US Airways Flight 1549: A
scheduled commercial passenger flight from New York City to Charlotte, North
Carolina that, on January 15, 2009, was successfully ditched in the Hudson
River adjacent to midtown Manhattan six minutes after takeoff from LaGuardia
Airport after being disabled by striking a flock of Canada Geese during its
initial climb out.
The bird strike, which
occurred just northeast of the George Washington Bridge about three minutes
into the flight, resulted in an immediate and complete loss of thrust from both
engines. When the aircrew of the Airbus 320 determined that they would be
unable to reliably reach any airfield from the site of the bird strike, they
turned it southbound and glided over the Hudson, finally ditching the airliner
near the USS Intrepid museum about three minutes after losing power. All
155 occupants safely evacuated the airliner, which was still virtually intact
though partially submerged and slowly sinking, and were quickly rescued by
nearby watercraft.
The entire crew of Flight
1549 was later awarded the Master's Medal of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air
Navigators. The award citation read, "This emergency ditching and
evacuation, with the loss of no lives, is a heroic and unique aviation
achievement."
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