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Jet crashes into Hudson River, All Onboard Survive

Newsday

NEW YORK, NY — A US Airways plane with 151 people on board crashed into the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan Thursday afternoon, sending passengers fleeing for safety in the frigid waters and startling thousands of New Yorkers.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said all passengers were rescued safely from the crash.

More pictures and a video in the Extended Article.

Government officials said the plane had hit a flock of birds that disabled two engines. Terrorism was not believed to be a factor.

According to Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown, the US Airways Flight 1549 had taken off from LaGuardia Airport enroute to Charlotte, N.C.

Bill White, president of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on the West Side, said one of the museum’s employees saw the plane struggling over the Hudson just north of the museum and thought it was having engine problems.

The plane crashed between 3:44 and 3:48 p.m., federal aviation officials said.

Employees rushed onto the flight desk and saw ferry boats and other harbor crafts quickly converge around the partially submerged aircraft and passengers wearing yellow life vests sitting in life rafts. He said there was no sign of fatalities.

The crash quickly drew at least six rescue boats. The jet is slowly sinking into the river but its nose is still visible above the water as of 4:15 p.m.

New York City firefighters and other rescue workers are on the scene; it was not immediately clear if there were injuries. CNN is quoting a passenger that there were no fatalities. The plane carried 146 passengers and a crew of 5.

“I just thought, ‘Why is it so low?’ And, splash, it hit the water,” said witness Barbara Sambriski, a researcher at The Associated Press.

The plane was submerged in the icy waters up to the windows, and rescue crews had opened the door and were pulling passengers in yellow life vests from the plane.

The plane was floating on the river near the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum off 52nd Street.

“I saw what appeared to be a tail fin of a plane sticking out of the water,” said Erica Schietinger, whose office windows at Chelsea Piers look out over the Hudson.

“Wow, thank the Lord and thank the pilot,” said Alberto Panero, a passenger quoted on CNN. “I can’t believe he managed to land the plane safely.”

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41 Comments

  • menacham

    you can clearly see the NYC police boat, how about mentioning the real rescue workers

  • Strange reaction!

    I really don’t understand. You just saw the hand of Hashem–NOBODY WAS HURT, AN OPEN MIRACLE–and that’s what prompts you to scream Ad Mosai? And with a pained “OY” in front of it??? I think it’s great to scream Ad Mosai–the Rebbe begged us to do it. But maybe you should first find out what it means.This situation seems to call for a resounding “BARUCH HASHEM!” or something along those lines.

  • Mushkie

    Baruch Hashem!!! THis proves to the world that there is a g-d!! and that this company should not fire this pilot, because even in this kind of time, he was able to safely land the plane ONTO WATER and not many can do that. great job.

  • Moishie

    I would say that making the decisions of where, when and how that the pilot had to make with in a few minutes is a miracle all by itself.

    Some kind of award and promotion should be given.

  • meir

    BS”D

    TO STRANGE REACTION:

    Why is it that there always must be negative comments.Don’t you have better things to do with your time-like learn or help someone, and thus bring Moshiach.

    Since you are such an expert-please tell us what ‘Ad Mosai’ means and why it was not appropriate.
    ‘
    And yes,in my opinion at least ‘oy’and ‘ad mosai’ is a proper response.Was a plane crashing not a catastrophic event to you? The fact that a miracle occurred does not lessen the need for the era when these things do not need to happen. And does the trauma to the passengers and the disruption to their lives which will now unfortunately take place rank as immaterial to you.

    Meir

  • bubbyb

    love to see you smile.. great story, amazing happy ending.

    a real miracle that no one died.. amazing

  • Strange reaction reacts

    Meir you totally missed the point.

    My comment was about being thankful to the Aibershter for good. You cannot possibly equate this event with the recent horrors over which people have been screaming Ad Mosai. Never claimed to be an expert on the matter, by the way. Just can’t fathom why people react with the same hysteria over the good and the not good. I believe the saying is “Kshem SheMEVORCHIM al hatov, kach mevorchim al hara” and not “Kshem sheTZOAKIM al hara, kach tzoakim al hatov.” I happen to work in a profession where I see trauma every day, and it has been my experience that people who live through a trauma, difficult though the going may be at times, do tend to focus on the fact that they LIVED THROUGH THE TRAUMA! U’vacharta B’chaim is an attitude as well as a way to live. Choose to see the life and the good and thank G-d for it! And scream Ad Mosai all you want. But I question the appropriateness of screaming out in pain when a miracle has been wrought. Kind of like complaining to G-d when you win the lottery, don’t you think?

  • ....

    Zalmy wrote:

    this must have something to do with the mumbai attacs!!!

    why is it connected sorry do not get it

  • Milhouse

    Meir, you think when Moshiach comes there won’t be any more accidents? You think engines will continue to work even when a whole flock of 15-pound geese fly into them? An accident of this kind could have happened even if Moshiach had already come. BH nobody was seriously injured, but think of all the possessions that were lost.

  • syphilis

    suicidal birds give a plane a free car wash
    except that is a plane so tecnicly its a plane wash.

  • levi

    this is the first time that i didnt get my kosher meal and i didnt have to sit and watch everyone else eat and enjoy their meal.

  • New meaning to...

    Maybe the Intrepid could use the plain. Or atart a new faster way to get downtown from the airport in 7 minutes? Now we understand “Moshiach is waiting on the wings.” “Passengers, the whole plaine is a flotation device.” MobyDick. Gliderplain. plainmishuga. If my granmother hadd wings shed be a plain. Are we their yet? Underwater edventure. Your all washed up.

  • A montrealer

    Does everyone get it? Hashem saved this U.S. plane because the U.S. supports Israels war on Gaza . Does everybody remember in 2005 when U.S. supported the disengagement Hashem sent Katrina & other hurricanes!!

  • BOTH engines?

    The wind blew, in order to blow the leaf, in oredr to blanket the worm. To feed the bird. To bring down the plane. To rescue passengers. to thank Hashem.

    Or to give us message from above, perhaps. Its not a one time miracle. There is a messege here that every single pigeon in nyc that doesn’t get eaten by a Jet is a miracle. Why does this not happen every day? Do the traffic space of three busy airports hovering a big city lack pigons? There are plenty of both birds and planes yet still we dont here of any problems. THATS the miracle.

    By the way, if a bird got in, there should be 2 engines on a 757, not one. Did BOTH engines blow?

  • wow!

    wow its such a MIRACLE that it didnt fall just a few miles away on the streets. its a RIVER!! not like a ocean and also, its not like in somewhere really stranded and whatever, the passengers got right away to civilization ,not to like a forest in the islands of hawai IDK anything MAMASH a ness

    to A MONTREALER i really think that thats true about us supporting israel lol i mean US

    but 1 question: i understand it fell because birds got into the engine is that like they stopped it or something? ISNT THERE ANY WAY TO PREVENT THAT??? THAT CAN HAPPEN ANYWHERE!!! they should put like a covering on the engines
    poor birds but its really disgusting – now blood of the birds is in the engines of the plane in hudson river

  • to A montrealer

    bs”d
    its 100 percent true im sure
    but y do the poor passengers be a kapara? i know they all got out bh, but they had the fright and all that, losing theyre luggage…

  • anonim

    PETA is very angry because they would have wanted the innocent birds to bring down the guilty meat eaters.

    For the rest of us, ma rabu maaseicha Hashem.

  • oy vey! what a trauma!

    oy vey! When people can’t even agree on saying: AD MOSAI!! MOSHIACH NOW!!!!!

  • entertained

    This is definitly the best commented post in a long while! keep up the entertainment- especially those who are arguing about moshiach now…