Personal Injury Law

U.S. Airlines Crashes into the Hudson

By Paul Napoli

On Thursday afternoon at 3:27 P.M., a U.S. Airways plane taking off from LaGuardia Airport in NY headed to Charlotte, NC crashed into the Hudson River. Apparently the cause of the plane having to make an emergency landing on the Hudson was due to a flock of Geese flying and getting caught in the plane’s engines. The plane malfunctioned due to the Geese just 2 minutes after take off in which the Pilot instructed the passengers what happened and that they were going to try to land on the Hudson. After the valiant efforts of the pilots and crew, the plane safely landed on the Hudson without any major complications, a true miracle. The passengers were seen standing on the wing waiting for the rescue boats and rescue ferry that were then taken to St. Vincent's Hospital, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, and Weehawken Hospitals. Luckily all of the 155 passengers, pilots, and crew came out of the incident without any major injuries. There were reported to be around 58 injuries total from the 155 passengers aboard.

There have been much talk about this story and one of the most prominent ones concerned the heroic actions of the pilot. People have been calling it the “miracle on the Hudson” because there was not one fatality involved with the accident. It was reported that one woman may have lost her leg in the crash but nothing has been confirmed. Somehow without both engines malfunctioning from the geese flying into the engines, the pilot managed to maneuver the plane to land on the Hudson without any type of hysteria. Since 9/11 the city’s emergency plan has been tested and updated, thankfully and luckily. The rescue team that was sent to the site was very efficient and fast in getting lifeboats to the passengers of the U.S. airlines flight. Ferries were also sent to the scene so that the passengers could be saved from the frigid waters. There was a real team effort to get the passengers out of the water and on to safety. It was noted that passengers on the ferries were throwing out lines and life preservers to the passengers on the Hudson.

U.S. Flight 1549 was very lucky that they had a pilot who knew what to do in the situation while staying calm and collected, as well as a city that knew exactly what to do in the situation. It is times like these where we praise our emergency planning and rescue teams for doing such a great job at what they do. There are very few emergency situations where all of the passengers are spared and we can praise the city for handling the situation so well. The incident on the Hudson demonstrates that when we come together as a unit we can help one another out in times of turmoil and upheaval.

Full post as published by New York City Personal Injury Lawyer on January 20, 2009 (boomark / email).