euro Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Kudos to the crew of US Airways NEW YORK(AFP) (AFP) - A US Airways plane carrying 148 passengers and up to six crew crashed into New York's Hudson River Thursday and was sinking into the waters after everyone was safely rescued, US officials said. Dozens of frantic passengers clustered on the wings of the plane seeking to stay above the rising freezing waters as they were evacuated off the plane onto waiting boats. The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said all the people on board had survived and been rescued after flight 1549 crashed shortly after take-off from LaGuardia Airport in New York on its way to Charlotte, North Carolina. It confirmed there were 148 passengers and five or six crew on board the ill-fated flight, and said it was an accident which may have been the result of a collision with some birds. Passenger Alberto Panero told CNN said he heard a loud bang just after take-off from La Guardia. "The plane shook a bit and immediately, you could smell smoke or fire and immediately, the plane basically just started turning in another direction," he said. "It didn't seem like it was out of control, we knew something was going on," he said. "All of a sudden, the captain came on and said, 'Brace for impact,' and that's when we knew we were going down, into the water. And we just hit and somehow the plane, you know, stayed afloat and we were all able to get on the raft and -- it's just incredible right now that everybody's still alive." "Right now we don't have any indication right now that this was anything other than an accident," the FAA's Laura Brown told reporters, adding there were preliminary reports that birds hit the plane. Police helicopters hovered over the stricken plane as four large ferries and several smaller boats gathered in the waters nearby. The Coast Guard was dropping life jackets into the water for survivors amid frigid temperatures. Fire and EMS crews assisted survivors, with one passenger saying there had been elderly people as well as children on board the aircraft. On a freezing winter's day, water temperatures were estimated at 20 degrees Fahrenheit (six below Celsius) outside and 40 degrees Fahrenheit (four degrees Celsius) in the water, making it a race against time to get everyone off the plane before they could suffer from hypothermia. Panero told CNN by phone he believed everyone had escaped alive, and had been evacuated from the floating plane. He said the rescue "boats managed to get right up to the door and you could just literally, in effect, jump off into a boat, never had to go into the water." "I saw what looked to be a small commercial plane flying south making a gradual landing," witness Ben Vonklemperer told CNN. "I saw it hit the water. It made a big splash," he said. "I did see it hit the water at a very gradual angle. It appeared not to have landing gear engaged," he said. "The way they hit it was very gradual. A very slow contact with the water that it made." The Hudson River crash comes 27 years and two days after an Air Florida Boeing 737-222 airliner crashed into the 14th Street bridge in Washington and plunged into the Potomac River immediately after takeoff in a snow storm on January 13, 1982. The accident killed 78 people, including four motorists on the bridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virginia Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Amen, that really was miraculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LedZepChick Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 The pilot and crew did an exceptional job. It's pretty rare to have a happy ending when a plane goes down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigstickbonzo Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Blame the Canadians!!!! Stupid Canadian Geese!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquamarine Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 At least it wasn't Robert's fault this time! Amazed this story hasn't produced more interest, I think it's just astonishing and wonderful that all those people survived and so few were even injured. The pilot was a genius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel With A Broken Wing Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Can you imagine what it would be like to go through an experience like that? I can't. And I won't or else I'll never get on another plane. Kudos to the pilot, crew and all the fast-acting rescuers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Can you imagine what it would be like to go through an experience like that? I can't. And I won't or else I'll never get on another plane. Kudos to the pilot, crew and all the fast-acting rescuers. I'm already a fearful flyer so like you, I'll refrain from thinking too hard about this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzldoc Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 At least it wasn't Robert's fault this time! Amazed this story hasn't produced more interest, I think it's just astonishing and wonderful that all those people survived and so few were even injured. The pilot was a genius. That's because it had a happy ending. No bodies That's just sarcasm from a media stand point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyLane Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Talk of the airport yesterday. Glad everyone survived! My flight landed without incident late last night and will keep on flying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmie ray Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Stupid Canadian Geese!! Trains have cowcatchers on the front of them, why don't planes have goosecatchers on the front of the engines? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirchzep27 Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Hats off to the pilot, beautiful job cap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninelives Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Truly remarkable rescue effort. The pilot was absolutely amazing. Hats off to him and everyone involved. Just so relieved everyone survived, especially with the frigid temps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigstickbonzo Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Trains have cowcatchers on the front of them, why don't planes have goosecatchers on the front of the engines? Considering planes travel much faster than trains, a recent study suggests a 6lb goose is equivalent to 1 ton of goose at impact with a jet traveling at a certain (forget exact) speed. At a certain speed, the softest objects become deadly weapons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzldoc Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Considering planes travel much faster than trains, a recent study suggests a 6lb goose is equivalent to 1 ton of goose at impact with a jet traveling at a certain (forget exact) speed. At a certain speed, the softest objects become deadly weapons. The turbines in jet engines are precision balanced and a marble can do some serious damage. Once one of the fins in the turbine is damaged it becomes unbalanced and effectively will tear itself apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lake of Shadows Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Kudos to the pilot!!! Glad everyone survived. Nightline ran a pretty long piece on it last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUCK'EYE' DOC Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 I had a patient in my office yesterday who's husband is a pilot for US Airways. She came in after 5 PM and she had a look on her face that I couldn't interprut. She looked like she had been through hell, her face was contorted into a worried look. I didn't get to talk to her as she was in for an appointment with my optician to pick up her new glasses and I just saw her in passing. I am very perceptive of people and I was concerned about her from the way that she looked. Now I know that it was because she was worried about her husband and probably didn't know that he was not the pilot on the flight that crash landed in the Hudson for a while after she heard the news reports of the crash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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