Friday, January 16, 2009

AIRBUS CRASHES INTO HUDSON RIVER



A US airliner on a domestic flight with 155 people aboard has ditched into the Hudson River in New York City but with no loss of life.

All 150 passengers, three flight attendants and two pilots were rescued in freezing weather, with a number later treated for unspecified injuries.

The US Airways Airbus A320 crashed just after taking off from LaGuardia Airport heading for Charlotte, North Carolina.

Officials believe the plane may have collided with a flock of geese.
The BBC's Greg Wood reports from New York that it was a true delivery from disaster, a commercial airliner forced to ditch in the river just next to the skyscrapers of mid-town Manhattan but with no fatalities.

One person suffered two broken legs and paramedics treated 78 patients, most for minor injuries but, through a combination of luck, the skill of the pilot and a rapid emergency response, 155 people have had a very narrow escape, our correspondent says.

Air accident investigators are in New York to probe the cause of the incident.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009