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2009-01-16 07:39:54
The pilot of an airliner that ditched in New York's Hudson River has been
hailed a hero after all 155 passengers and crew were rescued.
The US Airways Airbus A320 made the crash-landing minutes out of LaGuardia
airport, both its engines apparently disabled by a flock of birds.
Passengers were rescued from the wings or helped from the icy water by divers.
Captain Chesley Sullenberger was praised by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
for his "masterful" landing.
The state governor spoke of a "miracle on the Hudson".
The BBC's Greg Wood reports from New York that it was a true delivery from
disaster, a commercial airliner forced to ditch in the river just next to the
skyscrapers of mid-town Manhattan but with no fatalities.
One person suffered two broken legs and paramedics treated 78 patients, most
for minor injuries but, through a combination of luck, the skill of the pilot
and a rapid emergency response, 155 people have had a very narrow escape, our
correspondent says.
Air accident investigators are in New York to probe the cause of the incident.
'Everyone counted out'
Flight 1549 departed LaGuardia en route to Charlotte, North Carolina, at 1526
local time (2026 GMT), after delays, said Laura Brown of the Federal Aviation
Administration.
"We believe it was airborne for three minutes after take-off when it crashed
into the Hudson River," she said.
The pilot reported a "double bird strike" less than a minute after take-off and
asked to return to the ground, before ditching in the Hudson, an air
controllers union spokesman said.
Ferryboats arrived within minutes of the crash to begin the rescue as
passengers emerged in life jackets.
The temperature was almost -7C and the current in the Hudson was running
rapidly.
The plane moved rapidly down river, threatening to submerge at one point, until
guided to a halt by tug boats against a pier.
"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," Mr Bloomberg said on
Thursday evening.
"I had a long conversation with the pilot. He walked the plane twice after
everybody else was off and tried to verify that there was nobody else onboard.
And assures us there were not."
The mayor also commended emergency services, saying: "They train for these
kinds of emergencies, and you saw it in action."
New York Governor David Paterson said: "I think that in simplicity, this is
really a potential tragedy that may have become one of the most spectacular
days in the history of New York City's agencies."
Bracing for impact
Stephanie Nachman, who works in a high-rise building in Times Square, said she
had seen the plane crash.
"It wasn't wild or erratic but if as it was landing on a runway," she said.
Within minutes, she added, people got out, doors popped out and rafts unfurled.
Jeff Kolodjay, a passenger on the plane, described the moments before the
landing:
"About three or four minutes into the flight... the left engine just blew...
flames coming out of it and I was looking right at it cos I was sitting right
there.
"And it just started smelling a lot like gasoline and a couple of minutes after
that the pilot said 'you guys gotta brace for a hard impact'.
"And that's when everyone started, to be honest, saying prayers and we looked
over the water and we thought we had a chance because, you know, there's some
water."
Moments after impact, the situation inside the plane was "just controlled
chaos", said passenger Dave Sanderson, of Charlotte.
"People started running up the aisle, people were getting shoved out of the
way," he said.
Another passenger, Alberto Panero, said that a couple of people then "just kind
of took charge and calmed everyone".