US Airways flight 1459 crash landed in the Hudson River between Manhattan and New Jersey on Thursday the 15th January 2009. The flight had just taken off from LaGuardia Airport and was on its way to Charlotte in North Carolina. The flight came into trouble minutes after takeoff, when it is believed it was hit by a flock of Geese.
The Pilot described his windscreen being full of birds and then shortly after hearing the engines on the aircraft fail. The aircraft had reached 3000ft before coming into contact with the birds. Pilot Mr Sullenberger tried to avoid the crash landing however, as the engines failed he soon realised that he needed to get the plane down and fast. With no appropriate area of dry land available, due to the numerous high-rise buildings in such close proximity, the Pilot made the decision to land the plane on the Hudson River.
Numerous eye witness accounts have flooded in from people in nearby office buildings describing the scene as the pilot brought the plane down to land on the river. Described by many as though it was landing on a run way, with no erratic or rough movements.
All passengers and crew on the flight were safely rescued from the aircraft by nearby boats, with the injuries sustained kept to a minimum. The Pilot is being hailed a hero after his superb landing on the Hudson River.
Landing on water is extremely difficult task and often results in injury to passengers. Pilot Mr Sullenberger successfully landed on the water landing the whole of plane flat on the Hudson River and careful not to land the plane nose first which would have no doubt have caused further complications to the already crash landing.
The aircrafts two black boxes have been retrieved and sent to Washington to be analysed. It is believed that this matter is not a terrorist attack.
