US Airways Plane Goes Down in Hudson River (with video)
William Branigin and Spencer S. Hsu - Washington Post Staff Writers
A U.S. Airways flight from LaGuardia Airport in New York went down in the Hudson River this afternoon, and rescuers moved quickly to remove passengers from the plane.
Flight 1549, an Airbus A320 with 135 people on board, appeared to make a controlled landing in the water shortly after takeoff from New York bound for Charlotte, N.C.
Television news footage showed the aircraft resting apparently intact in the frigid water as ferries and rescue vessels surrounded it and helicopters flew overhead.
Inflatable boats were deployed to carry passengers from the plane to the nearby vessels. There was no immediate information on casualties.
A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, Laura Brown, said the plane appeared to have hit one or more birds on takeoff. Initial accounts indicated the airliner lost both engines.
Ellen Howe, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration, confirmed only that there was "no known nexus to terrorism" in the downing.
A Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, Laura Keehner said, "There is no information at this time to indicate that this is a security-related incident. We continue to closely monitor the situation, which at present is focused on search and rescue."
Alberto Panero, a passenger on the plane, told CNN in a telephone interview that everyone on the plane was "pretty much okay" after the impact.
"This was a near-death experience that thankfully did not turn out that way," he said.
Panero said, "Thank the Lord, and thank the pilot. I can't believe that somehow he managed to land that plane safely."
He said the pilot told the passengers, "Prepare for impact," just before the splash landing. For a moment afterward there was pandemonium, he said. Then, "a couple of people took charge" and calmed people down as they made their way to the exits.
A witness, Ben Vonklemperer, told CNN he saw the plane "making what appeared to be a very gradual landing" in the Hudson. "It appeared not to have any landing gear engaged," he said. "It basically just hit the water."
The incident occurred on a cold winter's day, with the air temperature at about 21 degrees and the water temperature at 43 degrees. In those temperatures, passengers would have faced hypothermia in minutes if they gone into the water.
As the passengers were taken off the plane, it appeared to be gradually sinking in the river near 48th Street in midtown Manhattan. The tail section was partly submerged.