Plane crashes into the Hudson River, NYC

A US Airways plane flight 1549 crash landed into the river at a little after 2:00 pm., EST.

They think it may have been a bird-strike.

The pilot made an amazing emergency landing, the plane did not break up and there were lots of water taxi's, etc. in the area.

It was a flight from LaGuardia to Charlotte (don't know if it's VA or NC)

The passengers who I saw getting onto boats looked like the were okay.

I wonder if Lily saw this happen?

I think that everyone was able to get off safely. That could have been devastating with the frigid waters. I've been watching Brian Williams reporting on it. He interviewed a passenger that made it sound like everyone was safe. They think that a flock of geese hit both engines. They said that there hasn't been a commercial airline fatality in the United States in 2 years. That's amazing!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090115/ap_on_re_us/plane_in_river

Wasn't there a flight that went down back in the '80s that went down in waters? I dont think many people survived that one.

There was one that hit the 14th Street bridge and went into the Potomac, I'm not sure of the year, but it was freezing cold. There were quite a few fatalities.

I may be wrong about that.

Oh oh, another reason for Cheryl NOT to fly, lol.
I love to fly.

Me too! How scary!!

I read that a goose got sucked up into an engine, so it sounds like it was more that just hitting the flock or meese, oh I mean geese. (see Savannah's "two things" thread if you're confused ). This really IS a miracle...they said that generally a plane will split apart upon impact to water, that it's worse than landing on ground! It's a testament to the design of the plane, as much as to that experienced, clear-headed pilot. Seeing all those people standing on those plane's wings truly was a sight to behold, when you think of what could have happened.

This was such an amazing ordeal!! I am so glad that all 155 people on the plane were rescued safely. I watched some of the passengers this morning as Matt Lauer interviewed them on the Today Show. There was a couple on, with their 2 children. Their daughter was 9, and their son was 9 months. The pilot did an AMAZING job landing that plane, and what a blessing that all of those ferries were right there to help out as soon as they did.

Can you even imagine having a young child and baby?! Boy, that's something that little girl will never forget. Talk about traumatic. How blessed every single person must be feeling waking up this morning, you know? And how PROUD that pilot's wife must be of her hubby right now...it truly is an amazing thing.

This is truly an amazing story. The pilot and his crew should all be commended. I am hearing the co-pilot is from Wisconsin and one of the flight attendants incurred a broken leg. Those photos of all those people standing out on the planes wings are truly amazing and to think of how long that plane stayed afloat is amazing in itself. I am sure this will be used as a textbook training event for many, many years.

What a happy ending !!

Alice wrote:

There was one that hit the 14th Street bridge and went into the Potomac, I'm not sure of the year, but it was freezing cold. There were quite a few fatalities.

I may be wrong about that.

I remember that one well, as do you I am sure, as we live in the same area. Yes, a lot of people died, but some survived.

My grandfather had just crossed that bridge coming home from work when the plane hit it. I was also 6pm getting home from school on the school bus. It was snowing so hard!!

That was 27 years ago!!

Luckily, no one died in this crash. I give kudos to the pilot and those people who pitched in to help. It's being dubbed The Miracle On The Hudson.

This was an amazing story. You definitely don't hear of too many planes going down with everybody surviving. In 1987 in Detroit a plane went down and the only survivor was a four year old girl.

I remember that well, Toby. I vaguely remembered the girl's name being Cecelia. It was quite a story - over 150 killed, and only one survivor. Here's what Wiki says about her:

The lone survivor of the aircraft was four-year-old Cecelia Cichan of Tempe, Arizona. Cecelia Cichan's mother, Paula Cichan died in the crash, along with her father, Michael Cichan, and her 6-year-old brother, David Cichan. After the crash, Cecelia Cichan-Lumpkin lived with relatives in Birmingham, Alabama, who shielded her from public attention. She graduated from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the spring of 2006 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

Cecelia.

There is a pretty good article about the Flight 255 crash in Detroit in which Cecelia survived at the following link. http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/usworld/news-article.aspx?storyid=89208

Lily wrote:

I remember the '87 crash too. I just couldn't finished reading the story wihtout wiping away tears. It hit hard reading what the mother of the 12-year-old boy said about the guy sat next to her son was a father travelling alone, and that she had to believe in her heart he was holding her son when the plan crashed.

I should have warned people that it was a pretty emotional article to read. It's frustrating to know that this tragedy would have been avoided if the pilots had gone over a required checklist. I'm glad that the plane in New York had an outstanding pilot whose quick thinking and skill saved 155 lives.

I know this is a real old thread, but the US Airways pilot was a trained gliding pilot and instructor.

I'm glad everyone is safe in this plane accident. It's not the first plane crash in which everyone survives, but it's somewhat scaring, after all....

Vanesa.