Ditching of a US Airways A320
in the Hudson River in New York

15 January 2009; US Airways A320-200, New York, NY: The aircraft was on a scheduled passenger flight from New York (LaGuardia) to Charlotte, NC The aircraft struck a flock of birds shortly after takeoff and experienced a loss of power to both engines. The crew was able to successfully ditch the aircraft in the Hudson River near midtown Manhattan. The aircraft reached an maximum altitude of about 3200 feet before it began to descend. After ditching, all five crew members and 150 passengers evacuated the aircraft. There were no fatalities in this event.

Background Information
The following pages have background information about the airline, the aircraft model, and other issues related to this crash:

• NTSB accident report
• US Airways plane crashes
• Airbus A320 plane crashes
• Bird Strike Hazards to Aircraft
• Jet airliner ditching events
• Bird strike videos
• BirdStrikeNews.com
• Comparing the US Airways ditching with seven other bird strike accidents
• Bird Strike Study from the AirSafe.com Foundation

Interviews

• Dr. Todd Curtis on the Escapes Radio Talk Show on 9 February 2009
• Interview of Bird Strike Expert Dr. Ron Merritt
• Dr. Todd Curtis on WGN Radio 16 January 2009
• Initial AirSafe.com report on this accident

Audio: MP3 | Video: iPod/MP4 | WMV | YouTube
AirSafe.com YouTube channel