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Pilot reported bird impact before crash: officials
AFP - 1 hour 40 minutes ago
NEW YORK (AFP) - - The pilot who successfully splash-landed an Airbus into the Hudson River told ground control that birds had paralyzed both engines, officials said Saturday, as salvagers tried raising the wrecked plane.
Details released by investigators of discussions between the US Airways pilot and air traffic control supported the theory that colliding birds prompted Thursday's crash in which all 155 people aboard escaped alive.
Kitty Higgins, from the investigating National Transport Safety Board (NTSB), said the pilot informed ground control just after take-off: "Hit birds. We lost thrust in both engines. We're turning back toward LaGuardia."
The emergency occurred at an altitude of just under 3,000 feet (914 meters) at the outset of the flight from LaGuardia, New York, to Charlotte, North Carolina, Higgins said.
Meanwhile, salvage crews on Saturday battled thick ice and swirling currents in the Hudson in an attempt to raise the plane, which was lying almost submerged, tethered to a Manhattan dock.
"The recovery of the plane is underway. That's been delayed because of the weather, the icy water," Higgins said. "We are hoping it will be completed tonight. It will take several hours."
Until the plane is up, investigators will not be able to reach the black box flight recorders located in the flooded tail section.
Boats equipped with sonar are also searching for the left wing engine, which may hold vital clues to the cause of the accident, and was lost in the Hudson.
Higgins said the NTSB on Saturday debriefed the pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, who is being lauded as a national hero for his skillful crash-landing.
NTSB interviews with ground control officials and flight crew provided the most detailed picture yet of the terrifying moments following that sudden loss of engine power.
Higgins said flight attendants described "a loud thud, a sound neither one had ever heard before. All engine noise ceased. They described it as complete silence. I think it was said it was 'like being in a library.'"
Then "they heard a passenger in first class sitting by the window saying: 'I think we hit birds.'"
A terse discussion unfolded between the pilot and ground control as options ran out and the plane glided to earth.
"The controller asked if the pilot wanted to land at LaGuardia on runway 13 and the pilot responded: 'We are unable. We may end up in the Hudson,'" Higgins said.
Ground control and the pilot discussed diverting to another airport, but Sullenberger "responded: 'We can't do it,'" Higgins said.
"When asked which runway the pilot would like to land on, the pilot responded: 'We're gonna be in the Hudson,'" Higgins said. "And that is the last communique from the plane."
The Airbus' entire flight, from take-off to splash landing in the Hudson, lasted about five minutes, Higgins said.
Security camera film footage released Saturday showed for the first time the moment of impact. Water shoots up as the plane makes a perfectly straight landing -- a brilliant piece of handling that experts say prevented a tragic break-up of the plane.
Crew members didn't even realize where they were at first, the NTSB said.
There was "one impact, no bounce, a gradual deceleration and neither one of them realized they were in the water," Higgins said. "The captain issued a one word demand: evacuate."
Crew interviews also confirmed reports of how the Sullenberger refused to leave his sinking plane until he was sure all 150 passengers and four crew were outside, waiting for rescue boats.
"He was very concerned with the count of the passengers," the flight crew told the NTSB, Higgins said.
"He wanted everyone accounted for. He returned to the plane a couple of times to check no one was there. The captain was the last off."
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Enlarge Photo
Rescue crews secure the US Airways A320 after it crashed into the Hudson River in New York City on January 15, 2009. The pilot who successfully splash-landed an Airbus into the Hudson River told ground control that birds had paralyzed both engines, officials said Saturday, as salvagers tried raising the wrecked plane.
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