US Airways jet plane crashes in Hudson River VIDEO # 2

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LIVE COVERAGE: www.msnbc.msn.com A US Airways jetliner crashed into the frigid Hudson River on Thursday afternoon after a flock of birds apparently disabled both its engines, but rescuers pulled the more than 150 passengers and crew members into boats before the plane sank. After boats rushed to the rescue, the Federal Aviation Administration said that all passengers on US Airways Flight 1549 were off the plane and safe. FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the flight had just taken off from LaGuardia Airport en route to Charlotte, NC, when the crash occurred in the river near 48th Street in New York City. The plane, an Airbus 320, took off at 3:26 pm and went down minutes later, Brown said. "There were eyewitness reports the plane may have flown into a flock of birds," Brown said. She added, "right now we don't have any indication this was anything other than an accident." Doug Church, spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Union, said that the pilot reported a "double bird strike" about 30 to 45 seconds after takeoff and said he needed to return to LaGuardia. The controller instructed the pilot to divert to an airport in Teterboro, NJ, for an emergency landing, Church said. A passenger who identified himself as Jeff told NBC News the engines blew about 3 minutes into the flight. "Fire started blowing up," he said. "I thought we would be able to circle around, but the captain said 'brace for impact.' ... I think the captain did a helluva job." The plane was <b>...</b>

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US, Airways, jet, plane, crashes, in, Hudson, River, bloomberg, bloomburg

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