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WORLD> America
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Investigation begins in plane's NYC splash landing
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-16 23:58 NEW YORK – Everything about the fate of Flight 1549 seemed like a million-to-1 shot - a flock of birds crossing a jetliner's path and taking out both engines, a safe landing in the Hudson River by a former fighter pilot.
As amazement about the "miracle on the Hudson" turned to questions, a team of 20 National Transportation Safety Board investigators began looking into how Thursday's bizarre near-disaster happened. The pilot guided the hobbled US Airways jetliner over New York City and into the frigid river, with an impact one passenger described as little worse than a rear-end collision. All 155 on board were pulled to safety as the plane slowly sank. US Airways chief executive Doug Parker said in a statement it was "premature to speculate about the cause." Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said there was no immediate indication the incident was "anything other than an accident." It was a chain of improbability. Birds tangle with airplanes regularly but rarely bring down commercial aircraft. Jet engines sometimes fail - but both at once? Pilots train for a range of emergencies, but few, if any, have ever successfully ditched a jet in one of the nation's busiest waterways without any life-threatening injuries. "We had a miracle on 34th Street. I believe now we have had a miracle on the Hudson," Gov. David Paterson said. If the accident was hard to imagine, so was the result: Besides one victim with two broken legs, there were no other reports of serious injuries to the 155 people aboard. "You're happy to be alive, really," 23-year-old passenger Bill Zuhoski said. US Airways Airbus A320, bound for Charlotte, N.C., took off from LaGuardia Airport at 3:26 p.m. Less than a minute later, the pilot reported a "double bird strike" and said he needed to return to LaGuardia, said Doug Church, a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. Church said the controller told the pilot to divert to an airport in nearby Teterboro, N.J. It was not clear why the pilot, identified as Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III of Danville, Calif., did not land there and headed for the Hudson instead. Passengers quickly realized something was terrifyingly wrong. "I heard an explosion, and I saw flames coming from the left wing, and I thought, `This isn't good,'" said Dave Sanderson, 47, who was heading home to Charlotte from a business trip. "Then it was just controlled chaos. People started running up the aisle. People were getting shoved out of the way." |
