Airplane crash lands into the Hudson River

Wolf

Well-Known Member
Oct 11, 2008
33,309
10,059
168
Phoenix
I'm glad the pilot landed the plane safely and everybody was safe!

Airplane crash-lands into Hudson River; all aboard reported safe - CNN.com

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A US Airways plane with 155 people on board went into a chilly Hudson River, apparently after striking at least one bird upon takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport, according to officials and passengers.
iReporter Julie Pukelis used a camera and a telescope to get this view of the scene in the river.

Everyone on board was accounted for and alive, officials said. About 15 people were being treated at hospitals and others were being evaluated at triage centers.

Flight 1549, headed to Charlotte, North Carolina, was airborne less than three minutes, according to FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown.

The pilot radioed to air traffic controllers that he had experienced a bird strike and declared an emergency, a New Jersey State Police source said.

Sources identified the pilot as Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger.

"I think a lot of people started praying and just collecting themselves," said passenger Fred Berretta. "It was quite stunning." Video Watch passenger describe landing »

He said he was expecting the plane to flip over and break apart, but it did not.

"It was a great landing," Berretta said.
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Air traffic controllers at LaGuardia saw the plane clear the George Washington Bridge by less than 900 feet before gliding into the water about 3:31 p.m., an aviation source told CNN. iReport.com: Are you there? Send images

Witness Ben Vonklemperer said he watched the plane from the 25th floor of an office building.

"If someone's going to land a plane in the water, this seemed the best possible way to do it," Vonklemperer said. "The way they hit it was very gradual. A very slow contact with the water."

US Airways CEO Doug Parker said it would be premature to speculate about the cause of the accident until the National Transportation Safety Board, which is sending a team to the site, completed an investigation.

A source familiar with the situation, however, told CNN the pilot reported a double bird strike, but it was unclear whether that meant birds in both engines or two birds in one engine.

The pilot initially said he needed to go back, and air traffic controllers started to give him clearance to do so, but the pilot said he wanted to head to Teterboro, New Jersey, because it was closer. That was the last transmission from the pilot, the source said.

Passenger Alberto Panero said that within a few minutes after takeoff, he heard a loud bang and smelled smoke.

"That's when we knew we were going down and into the water. We just hit, and somehow the plane stayed afloat and we were able to get on the raft. It's just incredible right now that everybody's still alive."

Passenger Jeff Kolodjay of Norwalk, Connecticut, said he was sitting in seat 22A, near one of the engines.

"The captain came on and said, 'Look, we're going down. Brace for impact.' Everyone looked at each other and we said our prayers. I said about five Hail Marys," said Kolodjay, who was headed to Charlotte to play golf.

"The plane started filling with water pretty quick," he said. "It was scary. There was a lady with her baby on my left-hand shoulder, and she was crawling over the seats."

Police, fire and Coast Guard boats, along with commercial ferries, were quickly on the scene as passengers lined up on slightly submerged safety chutes.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said later Thursday that the plane was tied to a pier at Battery Park City in lower Manhattan. As night fell, Coast Guard and FDNY boats remained at the scene.

President Bush commended those involved in the rescue. "Laura and I are inspired by the skill and heroism of the flight crew as well as the dedication and selflessness of the emergency responders and volunteers who rescued passengers from the icy waters of the Hudson," he said.

Bloomberg also commended the pilot for not leaving the plane until he had checked to make sure everyone had been been evacuated.

"It would appear that the pilot did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river and then making sure that everybody got out," Bloomberg said.

"I had a long conversation with the pilot," Bloomberg said. "He walked the plane twice after everybody else was off, and tried to verify that there was nobody else on board, and assures us there were not."

"There is a heroic pilot," said Gov. David Paterson. "We have had a miracle on 34th Street, I believe we now have a miracle on the Hudson."

The temperature in New York was 20 degrees about the time of the crash off Manhattan's west side.

Dr. Gabriel Wilson, associated medical director of the emergency room at Roosevelt Hospital, said 55 survivors were checked out and cleared to leave from the scene.

Those being treated at hospitals included a husband and wife with hypothermia at Roosevelt Hospital, as well as a flight attendant with a leg fracture, hospital spokeswoman Michelle Stiles said.

Since 1975, five large jetliners have had major accidents in which bird strikes played a role, according to the Web site of Bird Strike Committee USA, a volunteer group dedicated to reducing the frequency and severity of the strikes.

More than 56,000 bird strikes were reported to the FAA from 1998 to 2004, according to the group's Web site.

People who believe they may have had relatives on the flight may call US Airways at 1-800-679-8215 within the United States, the airline said.
 

ProperModulation

Green Type of Tube
Oct 11, 2008
2,612
90
48
California
amazing. the pilots did a perfect job ditching in the river. and we shouldn't forget the cabin crew who got all those people safely off the aircraft. serving drinks and crappy meals is only secondary to their real job of handling situations just like this.
 

limegrass69

Confused
Oct 12, 2008
6,079
245
63
New York
This pilot is a hero. They are also lucky it happened where it did. I don't think that there is any other city in the US that can respond to something of this magnitude with huge rescue resources in such a short period of time.
 

v1ru5

Well-Known Member
Oct 24, 2008
1,690
67
48
Harrisburg PA.
And right now mayor Bloomberg is handing out awards to the Police and EMS for basically doing their jobs so I want to honor the real hero's, the Ferry Boat Pilots and crew who came to the rescue, the private boat owners who came to the rescue, and the Circle Line captain and crew who came to the rescue.:ter::ter:
 

HecticArt

Administrator
Oct 19, 2008
49,832
17,485
168
Toledo, Ohio
The pilot of the plane, Chesley Sullenburger needs a huge reward for safely landing that plane.

I hope he didn't spill his drink!

Amazing job on everybody's part.
When you look at how much boat traffic is on the Hudson, it could have gotten really messy really quickly.

I think the Flock of Seagulls was the only fatality! They should have stayed with running instead of flying.

It amazes me that we haven't seen any video yet. You would think there was something on tape in NYC. Especially after 911.
 

antsie

Well-Known Member
Oct 20, 2008
1,951
67
48
Can't remember
And right now mayor Bloomberg is handing out awards to the Police and EMS for basically doing their jobs so I want to honor the real hero's, the Ferry Boat Pilots and crew who came to the rescue, the private boat owners who came to the rescue, and the Circle Line captain and crew who came to the rescue.:ter::ter:

Nicely put, I totally agree!! They all ROCK!!!:bigclap: :bigclap: :bigclap:
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
9,434
149
63
Louisiana
It is so unusual to see these kind of things happen and there be one or two survivors, but here we have a case were everyone survives. WOW! What a great thing!
 

deedee

Active Member
Oct 16, 2008
643
40
28
New York, New York
Big Cities to Small Towns when a stranger holds out their hands to another stranger to help in anyway they can to save a life to me they are all "Hero's".

I'm so proud of "MY CITY". Proud of all of the people who come and go here from all over the world who make up the heart of the city.

From the wounderful Pilot to His Co-Workers on the Airplane and as v1ru5 named everyone who held out their hands and to just the average "Joe" passing on the street the word "Hero" belongs to them all !! :inlove:


diane
 

Evil_Ernie

Smell my finger
Oct 11, 2008
2,318
1,566
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Hell
It amazes me that we haven't seen any video yet. You would think there was something on tape in NYC. Especially after 911.

Ask and ye shall receive...Coast Guard footage (the plane shows up at the 2:00 mark):

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TGYqxPiD4k[/ame]
 
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