travelwriter

What a terrifying 6 minutes it must have been for the passengers onboard US Airways flight 1549 enroute from LaGuardia airport to Charlotte, NC.

Only 1 minute into the flight, the passengers and crew heard large booming noises which the pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, later stated to be a double bird strike into both engines.

The crippled aircraft turned and flew over lower Manhattan only 900 feet over top the Washington Bridge and safely completed a splash landing into the Hudson River.  156 passengers and crew were safely evacuated using the emergency slides onto the floating wings of the aircraft.  Passenger ferries that were already in the immediate area quickly took on the cold and frightened travelers.

With the smell of jet fuel in the air, the Airbus A320 is still in the water today with the wing pointing upward toward the sky.  National Transportation & Safety Board (NTSB) officials stated they will be taking their time in removing the aircraft from the water to keep it intact.  The left engine came off and will be recovered from the bottom of the river.

No injuries were reported in what the New York Post has named the “Miracle on the Hudson.”  NTSB officials are still investigating.

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