US Airways Plane Crashes Into Hudson River

Posted on January 15, 2009

A US Airways plane has reportedly crashed into the Hudson River, sending passengers scrambling for safety in the freezing waters. Read more on the Hudson River plane crash, flight 1549 below.

Laura Brown, the Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman says the US Airways Flight 1549 had just taken off from LaGuardia Airport enroute to Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday when the crash happened.

Although it’s not known at this time what exactly caused the crash, Brown says the plane, an Airbus 320, may have been hit by birds.

New York City firefighters are responding to the crash. It was not immediately clear if there were injuries.

Witness Barbara Sambriski, a researcher at The Associated Press, said, “I just thought, ‘Why is it so low?’ And, splash, it hit the water.”

The plane was submerged in the icy waters up to the windows, and rescue crews had opened the door and were pulling passengers in yellow life vests from the plane. Several boats surrounded the plane, which appeared to be slowly sinking.

“I saw what appeared to be a tail fin of a plane sticking out of the water,” said Erica Schietinger, whose office windows at Chelsea Piers look out over the Hudson. “All the boats have sort of circled the area. … I can’t tell what’s what at this point.”

The plane, which reportedly had 151 passengers on board, was attempting to turn around after reporting a mechanical problem, NBC 4 New York reported.

Televised reports showed ferry boats typically used to take passengers across the Hudson surrounding the airplane, which remained partially afloat. The pilot reported that he struck a flock of geese shortly after takeoff, NBC reported.

No information was immediately available about injuries. The flight was US Airways flight 1549, which took off at 3:26 p.m., headed for Charlotte, N.C.

The NY Waterways ferry terminal at Port Imperial in Weehawken is closed until further notice, company officials said.

Estimates on the number of people aboard the plane ranged from 23 to 151. There was no immediate word on injuries. CBS reported police said they got everyone off the plane.

Joyce Cordero, a producer for CBS’s “60 Minutes,” said she could see the plane from her office window. Shortly after the crash, several people climbed out onto the wings.

“It looked like a movie scene,” Cordero said.

From the NY Daily News:

The miracle of Flight 1549 began with a shuddering bang and blue flames shooting from the engine. Then came the haunting warning from the cockpit:

“Brace for impact.”

Jeff Kolodjay, 31, was on the plane with five golf buddies, headed to Myrtle Beach for an annual tournament.

They had booked on Spirit Air, but that flight was canceled and they wound up on a US Airways jet out of LaGuardia.

“It was only a couple of minutes after we took off an engine blew,” Kolodjay said outside the NY Waterways terminal, where fellow passengers huddled in white blankets.

He was in seat 22a, just over the left engine. He looked out the window and saw blue flames.

“Fire just started blowing out the left engine pretty hard,” he said.

He thought the plane would just turn around and head back to LaGuardia for an emergency landing. The heroic pilot had other ideas.

“The captain just said, ‘Brace for impact,’” Kolodjay said. “And that’s what we all did. We put our heads down. We got ready.”

“We knew there wasn’t a lot of time because we were quite close to the ground, and it felt as though the descent was somewhat rapid,” passenger Fred Baretta told CNN.

There were some screaming in the cabin, but mostly the passengers and crew remained remarkably calm. The plane dropped about 100 feet.

“We went straight down and then we were in the water,” Kolodjay said.

“Then all of a sudden, it was, ‘Get out, get out now,’” survivor Alberto Pinero said on CNN.

Survivors said the impact felt like a car crash – and then came the deluge.

“The plane filled with water real quick. Really very quickly. It was cold,” said Kolodjay, whose pants were still wet as he recalled the nightmare.

As waist-high river water filled the fuselage, a woman with a baby tried to crawl over the seats.

Like the Titanic with a happy ending, “all the guys on the plane did a good job that the women and children got off first,” Kolodjay said.

Passengers left their coats and carryon luggage and grabbed life vests and seat cushions.

Barretta got near the front exit and realized he didn’t have a flotation device and had to hang back to hunt for one. “It seemed like an eternity,” he said.

As the plane slowly began to sink, some passengers freaked out, but others quickly took charge.

“Once people realized that we were going to be OK, everybody kind of calmed down,” Pinero said.

“It was organized chaos,” said Kolodjay.

Outside, some boarded life rafts. Others stood on the wings of the half-submerged aircraft.

They marveled at how quickly rescue boats arrived to whisk them to dry land. Mostly, though, they were amazed at the pilot’s incredible handing of the crippled jet.

“It was really scary and I’m just so very thankful that everyone got off all right,” Kolodjay said. “It’s pretty amazing. The pilot did a hell of a job to make sure everyone’s alive.”