`We may end up in Hudson’, said pilot before crashing

By DPA, Gaea News Network
Thursday, February 5, 2009

NEW YORK - Cockpit recordings of the ill-fated US Airways plane that crashed in the Hudson River last month reveal that the pilot calmly advised air traffic controllers, ‘We’re going to be in the Hudson’.

The Airbus 320 plane crashed in New York’s Hudson River Jan 15 after losing both engines, apparently hit by a flock of birds, after taking off from LaGuardia Airport. Miraculously, all 155 passengers and crew survived and were picked up by US Coast Guard vessels and ferries.

The pilot of Flight 1549, Chesley Sullenberger, had wanted to return to LaGuardia Airport but instead radioed air traffic controllers at a local airport in New York saying, ‘We can’t do it.’

‘We’re unable. We may end up in the Hudson,’ he said, in the tapes released by the Federal Aviation Administration Thursday.

The plane crashed in the Hudson minutes after takeoff and floated without breaking up. The passengers were able to escape through openings in the fuselage, half of which floated above the icy water. The plane was heading to Charlotte, North Carolina.

On Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board said bird remains were found in both engines during an examination at the manufacturer in Cincinnati, Ohio, and would be examined to determine what species of bird was involved.

There were no anomalies or malfunctions in the engines before the pilot reported striking a bird and both engines stopped working.

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