NEW YORK ( CNN ) -- Firefighters , sailors and emergency workers reflected Friday on the scenes they witnessed during rescue efforts for the passengers of a US Airways jet that ditched into the Hudson River 's frigid waters the day before . Divers plunge into the icy waters of the Hudson River on Thursday to rescue passengers from the ditched aircraft . It was far from just another day in New York , a city that has experienced its fair share of emergency calls . `` It was like a movie set , '' said Tom Sullivan of Firefighter Marine Company 1 . `` We 're at a Marine base , over a computer . Printout says 'Plane crash . Hudson River , over 15th Street . ' `` Sullivan rushed to the scene and began working on transporting some of the 155 passengers on US Airways Flight 1549 , many of them displaying signs of distress . `` I said 'Welcome to New York , ' and a couple of them cracked a smile , '' he said . `` They were just glad to be warm and dry . '' Detective Michael Delaney , the head diver for the NYPD Air-Rescue Unit , was lowered into the Hudson River from a helicopter in full scuba gear to rescue a woman hanging onto a floating object in the water . `` She seemed to be at the most distress at the time , '' Delaney said on CNN 's `` Lou Dobbs Tonight . '' `` They put us down to about 10 , 15 feet off the water . And that 's when we jumped into the water , '' Delaney said . `` Man , I 've been in cold water , but nothing like that . '' Darting speed boats and fighting strong currents was no easy job , said his partner , Detective Robert Rodriguez . `` Our first focus is to get a bit of communication established between us , kind of a game plan , '' Rodriguez said . `` It comes down sometimes to hand signals and a tap on the shoulder , a point of a finger . '' The unidentified woman was reluctant to let go of the net she was holding on to but eventually wrapped her arms around her rescuers . She was later treated for hypothermia , Delaney said . `` If there 's going to be a victim in the water , this is probably the worst time of year for them to be in the water , '' Delaney said . `` These people were literally in just regular clothes , obviously . They were just taking a flight on an airline and wearing a sweater , maybe some jeans , some sneakers . '' Petty Officer Von Rankin recalled sailing alongside the airplane over icy waters to rescue passengers , some partially submerged in the near-freezing waters . `` I actually put my boat inside the plane , '' said Rankin , who was one of the first to arrive at the crash scene . Rankin and his crew , who plucked seven people out of the wreckage , praised the crews of the fast-moving swarm of commuter ferries that transported many of the passengers away from the sinking aircraft . Mike Starr , a ferry operations manager , credited a hammock-like maritime rescue tool called a Jason cradle with helping save passengers from the water as quickly as possible . While Starr was helping people out of the water , he quickly turned his attention to a mother attempting to climb into a raft with her infant . `` She climbed almost all the way up onto the boat , '' he said . `` She did n't have the strength , so we muscled her on . The baby was right back in her arms , and she was back inside real quick . '' New York Waterways Capt . Brittany Catanzaro 's daily work consists of ferrying commuters from New Jersey to New York 's financial centers and basic ports . Rescue was a new mission to Cantazaro , who said freezing weather and the river 's currents made the task more challenging . `` You had to maneuver the boat with the current , because the plane is going downriver , '' Catanzaro told CNN 's `` Larry King Live . '' `` And you had to make sure there was no one next to you or inside . '' Other rescue workers who raced to save passengers also looked back on Thursday 's rescue mission in disbelief . `` We heard it was a confirmed plane down . Initially , you think of a small Cessna-type plane , but when we got up on the scene , I saw the tail fin of a US Airways jet out of the water , '' New York firefighter Tom Sullivan said . `` It 's unbelievable . '' As Sullivan approached the partially submerged aircraft with passengers clustered on its wings , he was struck by the `` organized '' and `` calm '' atmosphere of the rescue efforts already underway . `` There 's been helicopters that have gone down in the East River the last few years . But to handle this -- this is a large airliner with this many people , it worked out well . I was amazed that no one was killed . ''
`` I 've been in cold water , but nothing like that , '' NYPD diver says . Score: 6 Ferry operator says freezing weather , river currents hampered rescue efforts . Swarm of commuter ferries praised for responding quickly to the scene .