January 15, 2009
US Airways plane crashes in Hudson River near Intrepid
US Airways 1549 bound for Charlotte, N.C., this afternoon crashed into the Hudson River near 42nd Street and all passengers and crew appear to be safe, according to multiple news reports.
The plane took off from LaGuardia Airport at 3:26 p.m. and was in the Hudson five minutes later, according to the New York Times.
NY1 reporter Dean Meminger, who took video of the plane just before the crash, said he heard a boom and then saw flames coming out of the left rear of the plane. The pilot appeared to try to return to LaGuardia Airport, but instead glided into the river.
The pilot reportedly said it was a double bird strike into the engines, NY1 is reporting.
Update: “We do not believe there are any serious injuries,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a televised press conference that started just before 6 p.m. He said it appears that all passengers and crew were safely rescued but it’s difficult to confirm yet because the initial rescue was handled primarily by the tour boat operators at NY Waterway and Circle Line plus possibly the Coast Guard and NYFD.
“It would appear that the pilot did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river and then making sure that everybody got out,” Bloomberg said.
“I had a long conversation with the pilot. He walked the plane twice after everybody else was off and tried to verify there was nobody else on board and he assures us there were not,” the mayor continued. “I also talked to a passenger who said he was the last one up the aisle and that he made sure there was nobody behind him.”
“But the information is still subject to slight variations because there were some passengers onboard where the manifest doesn’t show them, or does show them and we’re trying to get an accurate list from US Airways. But the first and most important thing is, this pilot did a wonderful job and it would appear that all, roughly 155, including crew and one infant, got out safely.”
Bloomberg said the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash, and until then, “all of the speculation on what really happened here is just speculation,” he said.
On the rescue effort, Bloomberg said: “They did get some people who actually went into the water. An awful lot of people stepped right onto ferries that pulled up next the plane or right up to the wings where they were able to get out on the wings.”
Speaking at the same press conference, Governor David Patterson noted that the runway at LaGuardia has been closed.
The governor also talked to passengers prior to the presser. “There was a retired policeman named Wendell Fox from Charlotte, whom I spoke to, and he said that he’d participated in these types of rescues and he said he’d never seen anything this magnificent as coming off a plane into the water and looking up and seeing all those ferries coming to rescue them,” Patterson said.
Excerpts from the Q&A portion of the press conference:
“The plane itself is now down about Battery Park City and it’s tied up to a pier and eventually it will be pulled out and they’ll do a complete investigation.” - Bloomberg
Terrorism? “Absolutely no indication whatsoever as a matter of fact. People are as about as sure as you can be without pulling the plane out of the water yet that there was nothing other than accident, that may have had to do with both engines for reasons that the NTSB will decide, failing at the exactly same time, a very unlikely occurance in a two-engine plane.” - Bloomberg
Update II: The Post reports the troubled plane started down the Hudson near W. 187 Street, just about 10 blocks north of the George Washington Bridge. he made its water landing around Manhattan’s W. 50th Street.
Image source: Screenshot of NY1 TV broadcast.
Related: Webcams on New York City waterways
NTSB cited human error in both ‘05 helicopter crashes
All Available Boats: Harbor Voices from 9/11
January 15, 2009 5:20 PM in Arrivology, Downtown, Midtown, Transportology
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