U.S. Airways Plane Down in Hudson River

There hasn't been a major airline crash in the U.S. during the last two years but that's changed today:

NEW YORK (AP) - A US Airways plane crashed into the frigid Hudson River on Thursday afternoon after striking a bird that disabled two engines, sending 150 on board scrambling onto rescue boats, authorities say. No deaths or serious injuries were immediately reported.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown says the US Airways Flight 1549 had just taken off from LaGuardia Airport enroute to Charlotte, N.C., when the crash occurred in the river near 48th Street in midtown Manhattan.

Brown says the plane, an Airbus 320, appears to have hit one or more birds.

A law enforcement official said that authorities are not aware of any deaths and that the passengers do not appear to be seriously injured. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the rescue was still under way.

The plane was submerged in the icy waters up to the windows. Rescue crews had opened the door and were pulling passengers in yellow life vests from the plane. Several boats surrounded the plane, which appeared to be slowly sinking.

Just a week ago I was watching the flight attendants on Southwest Airlines demonstrate the life vests and I have to admit I didn't pay that close attention. I will next time.

Thanks to shallow water, the quick thinking of the crew, and the quick work of rescuers, it looks like everyone has gotten off the plane. Amazing.

Birds are always a hazard to delicately balanced jet engines. The pilot, upon losing power in both engines had to make a quick decision. You wouldn't think that landing in a freezing cold river would be the best option, but chances are they wouldn't have been as successful with an off-airport landing anyplace else. This crew will be rightfully lauded as heroes.

UPDATE: Information on the pilot:

Meet Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, III, the US Airways pilot who today amazingly crash-landed a US Airways jet in New York's Hudson River without any apparent fatalities. The heroic Sullenberger, 57, has worked for US Airways since 1980, and before that spent more than six years as a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot.

More here:

The Federal Aviation Administration said everybody was accounted for - and Mayor Bloomberg hailed pilot Chesley Sullenberger III as a hero before he had a chance to dry off.

"He did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river," the mayor said of the veteran pilot who lives near San Francisco.

With water seeping into the plane, Sullenberger, a former fighter pilot, walked up and down the center aisle twice to make sure nobody was left before he joined the exodus from the jet, the mayor said.

"He was the last one off the plane," Bloomberg said.