We often talk about how important you, as iReporters, are to CNN's news coverage. Perhaps nothing demonstrates that better than breaking news situations. And as you all know, we had one of those yesterday, with the U.S. Airways plane crash in the Hudson River. iReporters from Manhattan and New Jersey saw the scene unfold, and kept CNN viewers up-to-date with everything that happened, as it happened. Julie Pukelis and her coworkers watched the plane descend and land in the water from the top floor of their Manhattan office, using a telescope to get a closer look. Julie thought quickly and put her camera up to the telescope, capturing two amazing close-up images of the rescue. She sent them to iReport on a coworker's suggestion. Minutes later she was live on CNN's The Situation Room, describing the situation to Wolf Blitzer by telephone as her photos illustrated the scene on-screen. Lou Romansky of Hackensack, New Jersey, provided details of the crash to CNN.com/live. As he was heading home, he got stuck in New York traffic -- and little did he know, that provided him with the perfect vantage point to see the plane descend over the Hudson. He took pictures of it just before it landed in the water and sent them into iReport. We contacted Lou by phone and he did a live interview with Nicole Lapin on CNN.com/live, telling viewers about the "graceful" landing and his nervous thought that it might be another terrorist attack on New York. (Officials emphasize that the crash had absolutely no terrorist connection.) These are just two of the many amazing iReporters who played a crucial role in yesterday's coverage. You shared your photos and details about the crash with CNN not only on iReport.com, but also via Twitter, Flickr, email and phone. A big thank you to everyone who helped keep us -- and the world -- up-to-the-minute with everything that happened.

Watch amazing iReport images of the crash as iReporters and passengers describe the landing and its aftermath

iReport producer Tyson Wheatley talks about the importance of iReports in covering the crash

iReporter Stephanie Zessos shares the story of how she got amazing shots of the submerged plane