Plane crashes in Hudson River in NYC
 

I'm watching it right now on the news. They said it's about a 70 seat US Airways commiter jet that landed/crashed in the waters of the Hudson. They showed people standing on the wings of the plane. It looks like the people are being rescued, but its too hard to tell right now. UsAirways flight 1549, a 737 with 146 passengers.

Local news is saying "no fatalities" reported. Caused by a flock of birds shortly after take off. I can't even imagine. They were showing the people being brought to shore and lots of them were smiling and running up the ramp. I don't think I'd be able to smile yet, and I wouldn't be able to run because I am certain I'd have a load in my pants. Thank goodness no one was hurt!

I'm wathcing photos in a local newspaper website. It's incredible!!!
Hope everybody is still fine!

http://www.elcomercio.com.pe/edicion...ueva-york.html

CNN:
The pilot tried to return to the airport when the plane fell into the Hudson, the Times reported. The Times said it was below 20 degrees in New York at the time the plane went down.

A couple of minutes after takeoff, "we just heard a loud bang," Panero said.

"The plane shook a bit and ... you could smell smoke and fire and immediately the plane started turning," Panero said. "All of a sudden, the captain came on and said, 'Brace for landing,' and that's when we knew we were going down."

The plane approached the water at a gradual angle and made a big splash, according to a witness watching from an office building.

"It wasn't going particularly fast. It was a slow contact with the water that it made," said the witness, Ben Vonklemperer.

"It appeared not to have landing gear engaged. This was bigger than a puddle-jumper or sea plane. It was a silver aircraft and it basically just hit the water," Vonklemperer added.

I thought at first it was one of those crop-dusters, but like I said turns out it was a 737, which makes the fact that it landed on the water without major incident even more remarkable!

Especially since if it hadn't landed in the water, it certainly would have had to crash land in New Jersey or Manhattan, likely into buildings/people. It's really rather amazing that the pilot was able to think clearly enough to emergency land where the minimal amount of damage would be caused, and that every person on that plane was able to be brought to safety within an hour of landing.

I work in mid-town Manhattan and the crash happened about 6 blocks west from my building, in the 50s. Half an hour later, friends who work down by 14th Street were reporting that the fuselage was floating by. Crazy current!

Yikes, that's scary...especially 'cos I have to fly in & out of LaGuardia this weekend. :eek:

Kudos to that pilot for having his wits about him like that, and it's really amazing that no one was hurt.

Pilots are well taught to do that, they are extremely conscious they have to look for the less populated lands. And I think they have emotional tests, too, though the actual experience obviously is far differente from any flight simulator.

Pilot were also lucky too, most of times in those situations, the plane does not response like they want

Skill and cool-headedness is right. Amen to happy endings!

And I say AMEN again. :thumbsup:

That does it- I'm only flying out of Newark from now on! :angel:

That's exactly right, only sometimes you have to make your luck. A cool head and steady hand is sometimes all the luck you'll need. Just ask those >> lucky << passengers.

Talk about having a new vision of life... I'm so happy for those passangers.... finally some bad news gone good..... :)

I've never experienced something like that, but I'm sure and I agree it definitely gives you a new vision of life. I'm happy there were no fatal victims.

And, I was checking the flight path in it is really scary! If the plane would have failed worse, it could have crashed on an urban zone, and this would have been a major tragedy, like de American A. that crashed few months after sep 11 (Queens or Brooklyn? can't remember.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/imjustsayin/3201623730/

And obviously people that saw the plane were scared about another "sep 11"! Anyway, thanks God it ended well

Then to clear that bridge @ 350 feet and falling -- friggen amazing. :thumbsup:

Video Now Available
 

It turns out that there is now video surveillance footage available on the cnn site:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/01/17/usa...deo/index.html

One of the most amazing things I've seen in some time.

They say that the NTSB is going to use data and other information from this; in order to find out what went - thank God - right. . . .

My Dad used to own two single-engine Cessnas, and I've lived right next to an airport all my life, so I know a little bit about flying, and in my opinion there's at least two noticeable things that the pilot did right. The first is that he had the nose up right before he went in. The second is that he didn't fight it when it was time to go down - he coasted above the water for a short time, and then when it began to fall he didn't fight it - he let it go down naturally without trying to make any last minute "panic changes." That let it go down naturally and relatively smoothly. It reminds me of a great line from the movie "Executive Decision" - the amateur pilot keeps asking, "What am I forgetting? What am I forgetting?" and eventually the stewardess tells him, "Who CARES! FLY THE PLANE!"
i.m.o. the pilot did exactly that - he didn't "over-think" it or try to over-control it. At any rate, *whatever* he did, he did it right, and i.m.o. he really is a hero.

I wonder how long it was from the time the pilot made the decision to land in the Hudson to the time they touched water. I read one account of a crew member who said everything happend so quickly there was no time to pull the vents lever. Apparently the crew can pull a lever that closes off all the vents in the plane. This is so it won't take on so much water that it sinks like a rock. That might explain why they said the pilot was waist high in the water walking the isle after landing. If that's true the plane stayed amazingly bouyant, considering. Sure hope we get more details as time goes on. It's a fabulous story!