On January 15, 2009, US Airways flight 1549 took off from La Guardia airport in New York for Charlotte, North Carolina. Minutes after takeoff, the plane struck a flock of Canada geese just northeast of the George Washington Bridge and consequently lost all engine power. Unable to reach any airport, pilots Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles glided the plane to a ditching in the Hudson River off Midtown Manhattan. All 155 people aboard were rescued by nearby boats and there were few serious injuries. The accident came to be known as the "Miracle on the Hudson".
Miracle on the Hudson: 10 years on
On January 15, 2009, US Airways flight 1549 took off from La Guardia airport in New York for Charlotte, North Carolina. In minutes, the plane "landed" on the Hudson river
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An Airbus 320 US Airways aircraft that went down in the Hudson River is seen in New York, 2009
© AP Photo/Edouard H. R. Gluck On January 15, 2009, US Airways passenger plane carrying 148 passengers crashed into New Yorks Hudson River three minutes after takeoff
© AP Photo/Steven Day Passengers wait to be rescued on the wings of a US Airways Airbus 320 jetliner in the frigid waters of the Hudson River in New York, January 15, 2009
© AP Photo/Steven Day Passengers were able to escape the Airbus 320 through openings in the fuselage, half of which floated above the icy water shortly after the crash, allowing passengers to stand on the nearly submerged wings before rescue ships arrived
© AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews A crash victim from the US Airways Airbus A320 flight number 1549 is taken to into an ambulance on the West Side Highway at 40th Street, 15 January, 2009
© EPA/JUSTIN LANE All 155 persons aboard survived
© AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews New York City police officers looking over part of the US Airways Airbus 320, 2009
© AP Photo/Seth Wenig Inspectors examine items removed from US Airways Flight 1549 as it sits on a barge at Weeks Marina, January 20, 2009
© AP Photo/Mel Evans Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, pilot who safely glided US Airways Flight 1549 to a water landing 5 years ago, with survivors and rescuers marking the anniversary of the event, January 15, 2014
© AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and 1st Officer Jeffrey Skiles
© AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool The moldy and damaged interior of the wreckage of US Airways flight 1549, 2011
© AP Photo/Mel Evans US Airways jet, flight 1549, is trucked onto local streets after leaving a warehouse in Harrison, 2011
© AP Photo/Bill Kostroun