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Breaking: US Airways flight 1549 crashes into Hudson River
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A US Airways plane has crashed into the Hudson River, just across from the Lincoln Tunnel, near 48th street.The plane took off from LaGuardia Airport carrying 146 passengers and 5 crew members bound for Charlotte, according to television reports.
Details are still developing, but local television is reporting that the pilot radioed the LaGuardia tower saying that he had collided with a flock of geese and that some had been sucked into one of the plane's engines. The pilot was trying to turn back to the airport but apparently decided that he could not keep the plane airborne long enough and opted to set the plane down into the river.
The crash happened at 3:26 p.m. The flight number was US Airways 1549.
The plane is not submerged, and local television pictures show flight crew evacuating the plane via life rafts that are being steered to nearby ferries, which have surrounded the plane.
So far there are no causalities being reported.
Update: Passengers on the flight reported to MSNBC that everyone was able to get off the plane. It is currently being towed towards land.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Nick Hawkins Jan 15th 2009 4:22PM
Thus far good signs - little or no injuries, zero fatalities.
rafaelc378 Jan 15th 2009 4:41PM
I'd like to hear Kent Wien chime in on this. Personally I never thought a plane could land in the water safely, i.e. without breaking up or exploding. How much do pilots & crew train for this kind of contingency?
I hope everyone's safe.
Kent Wien Jan 15th 2009 7:58PM
We do train for this. I even complained about watching the life raft videos every 9 months of my career in a recent post.
That crew may have unknowingly saved more lives than just those on board. For a long time we've known that a successful ditching was possible, but there were just so few examples of a prepared ditching. The most famous one was the Ethiopian 767 hijacking, but the pilots were fighting with the hijackers before ditching which caused the airplane not to touch down level.
This served as a great example for everyone and just might make me pay more attention to the 25th viewing of our slide raft video during training.
My hat is off to the entire USAirways crew. The pilots were no doubt very experienced (as every pilot at that company is) and the flight attendants must have done a great job getting everyone out.
Always in the clouds Jan 15th 2009 6:34PM
In response of rafaelc378:
We all do Intensive training flight deck and cabin crew. Depending on what airline training can include actual drops into water for survival skills, some are done in simulators ( a real aircraft that is set to hydraulics that crews participate in various and unknown scenarios that include dense smoke and others including pressurised doors and other events using people as being hurt, in shock and things too much to describe, but next time anyone is on a flight and thinks of the flight attendant being a waitress in the air, think again we are trained for emegency of any kinds in the air, on ground and or in the water.
And same goes to when people think all a pilot does is sits up front pushing buttons, think again is all I have to say this is a very good example of what Flight Crews are made of and represent what could have been more of a disaster wasn't due to the crew as a whole as the flight deck knew what to do as the initial point of action and the cabin crew knew what to do when it became their corse of action.
This comes from a Stewardess whoms husband is a Pilot...
All the best to everyone
Jamie Rhein Jan 15th 2009 5:16PM
Wow! Another indication about why it's important to pay attention to those safety talks.
Stephanie Jan 15th 2009 5:24PM
I am please to here the previous comment it was good to know. Now I ship a lot of show dogs on the airlines. My worry is the pets in cargo would they be safe in this situation.
Barbara Buchanan Jan 15th 2009 6:12PM
They are not safe. Shipping any living being in the cargo hold of a plane is not safe. They are subject to excessively hot or cold temperatures, poor ventilation, scarcity of oxygen, deafening noise and extremely rough handling when flown in the cargo area of a plane. The airline industry treats live animals as mere baggage, transporting them in cargo holds not designed for life support. In the past, airlines have neither responded appropriately to reports of animal injuries, nor provided accurate information to the flying public. In response to the problems associated with pet air travel, and lack of good data on those problems, Congress passed the Safe Air Travel for Animals Act in April 2000, for which The Humane Society of The United States and its members lobbied extensively. The U.S. Department of Transportation adopted regulations for this law in 2005. Now all American-based airlines are required to report any companion animal incidents that occur in the cargo holds of their planes, including any deaths, injuries, or losses of these pets. Many airlines have responded to this law by implementing restrictions on accepting pets as cargo. For a complete month-by-month breakdown of these animal incidents, visit the Department of Transportation's Air Travel Consumer Report. Before you make plans to travel with your pet, follow these suggestions:
If you plan to bring your pet on vacation, consider driving instead of flying. (Neither Amtrak nor Greyhound allow pets.) If this isn't possible, consider leaving your pet behind under the care of a pet sitter or boarding kennel.
If you are relocating across the country, consider using a company whose primary business is to transport animals.
Remember, any inconvenience you might experience while researching and looking for safe travel options for your pet is minor when weighed against the risk of losing your companion forever in terrifying circumstances. Above all, when making travel decisions, please consider what is best for your pet to avoid becoming another one of millions of heartbreaking stories related to animals traveling as cargo on airplanes.
Jeff Jan 16th 2009 11:59AM
It is highly unlikely any pets were in the cargo hold. During extreme temperature swings in the midst of winter and summer, airlines ban shipping pets as cargo. This certainly would have been one of those times.
Barbara Buchanan Jan 15th 2009 6:20PM
Forgot to add that in this instance it would have been impossible to access the cargo area which is opened from the belly of the plane while on the tarmac. Since this water landing, the plane has sunk and would be completely filled with water and most likely was moments after impact.
dehner1cat Jan 15th 2009 7:57PM
to the crew who did their jobs well and passengers who reacted so well under extreme circumstances;
AWESOME JOB EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ckzx2 Jan 15th 2009 9:28PM
Amazingly the editor got the photo right this time, unlike the Continental accident from December.
Sam W Jan 15th 2009 9:36PM
I want to give the flight deck and cabin crew of flight 1549 the utmost in parse. They did a job second to none. I was talking with a pilot from American Eagle today as this was unfolding, the training they have to go though is very rigorous and this shows why.
masanddjs Jan 16th 2009 12:54AM
That pilot is a true hero. I guess we all better listen more closely to the "in the unlikely chance of a water landing" directions, from now on. But then again, remember the plane that went down in the water near National Airport. These people were VERY fortunate that the pilot had even a short time to plan a landing.
WELL DONE
Janos Jan 16th 2009 2:34AM
Pilots finally get some well deserved credit.
helen Jan 26th 2009 9:16PM
Was there any pets on board?Were they saved?
B. Hicks Jan 16th 2009 3:26PM
I had the same question immediately. Unfortunately most people are going to say - who cares - they are animals. All humans were saved. I am among those who DO care that there were most likely animals that no one was able to save. If airlines cares, there would be a way to get them up some sort of dumbwaiter and get them out. After all, they are living things that feel pain and people love them as family members and pay for them to be transported.
Vincent Jan 16th 2009 6:13PM
For those of you complaining about the animals (which likely weren't even present because of the temperature) I would like to express my disgust. As a VEGETARIAN FLIGHT ATTENDANT I would love to save every little poodle down in the hold, but as a flight attendant my job is to save human lives. I would gladly risk my life to get as many people off a plane as possible, but for you to ask humans to risk there lives for your puppy is disgusting.
Harley Jan 16th 2009 6:55PM
Thanks for your commitment to a career providing a valuable service to many. However, I pray that firefighters don't share your lack of love for animals.
Jennifer Jan 17th 2009 2:56PM
Vincent,
I find your comment in very bad taste. I worked as a firefighter/medic for ten years and my job was to save lives. If your airline is taking money to fly animals (therefore taking responsibility for the animal while in flight) it would seem to be the job of the crew to try to save the life of the animal. Let me tell you vincent, I would not judge who or what I was saving, I was interested in saving all lives. This is a very good reason for all of you out there to NEVER fly your pets. If your pet it a service dog and has to fly with you I would insist that the airlines give you a written statement that in the event of a incident your pet will be looked after as if they were a human. Then I would make sure that if I were on Vincents flight that he was well aware of the statement and agreed to the statement.
Spark Jan 16th 2009 7:05PM
How unfortunate to have praise for such a miraculous event tainted with such an uncalled-for expression of disgust. Really. And self-contradicting to boot. Sad. Unwarranted.