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Thursday, February 12, 2009
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An Ironton plant played a role in the Miracle on the Hudson
Staff Writer IRONTON - When a US Airways plane with 155 people on board made an emergency landing Jan. 15 on the Hudson River in New York, the pilot and his crew were hailed as heroes as everyone survived.
An Ironton business also played a role in saving all aboard the flight that day.
Mirada Research and Manufacturing Inc. in Ironton produced the valves, flanges, hand pumps and other components on the lifesaving inflatable emergency slides that passengers used to evacuate the plane and await rescue after the plane landed in the river. Mirada employees learned the following day via e-mail from their client, Air Cruisers, which produces aircraft inflatable safety products, that they, too, had a hand in the "Miracle on the Hudson," as many news reports hailed the story.
The company, in the Ironton Industrial Park, was started in Chaska in 1970 by Lloyd Wass, who moved the business to Ironton in 1996. The company has its own Mirada is a certified supplier for Air Cruisers, which means its products go right onto the production line and don't have to go through testing first, something Mirada operations manager Bob Venne said the company is proud of.
Most people in the Crosby-Ironton community may not be aware the company exists since its clients are located on the East and West coasts and internationally in Europe, Australia and Canada. They have no clients in the Midwest. Wass, who grew up in the Breezy Point area, still owns the company but spends his winters in Florida. Wass holds many patents for his products.
"You're not going to find us in a blow-up ball at Wal-Mart," Bob Venne, Mirada operations manager, said of their products. "We're in a weird business because we build products we hope are never used."
Venne said company officials received an e-mail from Air Cruisers the day after Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson, congratulating them on how well their products worked on the emergency float slides on that flight. The slides are activated before each flight by a flight attendant as he or she closes the doors. If the doors open on an emergency basis, it triggers the slides to deploy.
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Bob Venne, operations manager at Mirada Research and Manufacturing Inc. in Ironton, used an aviation lift raft to demonstrate what valve and other components the company produces for lifesaving rafts and other high-end commercial floatables. The company made the valves, flanges and other devices used on the float slides that helped save 155 people on the plane that crashed Jan. 15 into the Hudson River in New York. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
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While Venne said he and his co-workers thought there might be a chance their products were on Flight 1549 when it occurred, it wasn't until they received the e-mail that it was confirmed.
"It makes you proud that you at least had a small part in saving those people," said Venne.
"It's refreshing to have a hero," Corey Krantz, Mirada engineering manager, said of Capt. Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, the pilot aboard Flight 1549.
"The whole thing was just awesome," Venne's wife, Charlene, the assembly manager at Mirada, said of the miracle flight. "It all came down to that Capt. Sully. He's the man. He was unbelievable. Everything was in his hands."
The Vennes, Krantz and sales manager Kurt Drewelow serve as the board of directors for the company. Charlene Venne said the company is a team effort and everyone was proud of their small role in helping save everyone aboard that flight.
"It gives you real satisfaction in your job to know you've made valves that saved people's lives," she said.
JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
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