U.S. Airways Flight 1549 Accident

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U.S. Airways Flight 1549 Accident:

Flight Accident:

The above mentioned airplane was a planned commercial passenger flight that took off from LaGuardia Airport, New York destined for Charlotte Douglas Airport in North Carolina on January 15, 2009. Six minutes after takeoff, the airplane was successfully abandoned in Hudson River after striking multiple birds during its initial climb out. The crew reported by radio two minutes after takeoff at an altitude of 3,200 feet, the Airbus experienced multiple bird strikes. The result of this multiple bird strikes, which occurred in northeast of George Washington Bridge was compressor stalls as well as loss of thrust in both engines. The Airbus was ditched in Hudson River after the aircrew discovered that they would not reach any airfield and turned southward. Fortunately, all the 155 passengers on board survived the accident though the Airbus was partly submerged and sinking slowly.

Bird Strike:

According to an FAA spokeswoman, initial reports indicated that the plane’s engines were damaged following a double bird strike. While the plane captain declared an emergency after experiencing the bird strike, the passengers on board reported of a smell of fuel, engine flames and loss of power before the landing (Steenhor par, 4). The co-pilot, Jeffrey Skiles, who was at the controls when the flight took off, was the first to observe the formation of birds which were approaching the aircraft. When the Airbus collided with the birds, the windscreen turned dark brown immediately with numerous loud thuds being heard. Following ingestion by the birds, both of the engines lost all thrust. In an attempt to restart the engines, the captain, Chesley B. Sullenberger, took the controls while Skiles the...

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...e ditching on Hudson River. The NTSB report was not used in administrative, civil and criminal court case because none of the passengers is yet to file a lawsuit against the airline. As a result, none of the parties was determined to commit a tort in a civil lawsuit. However, each passenger received compensation for their lost luggage as well as offers from AIG not to file a lawsuit against US Airways.

Works Cited:

Steenhor. "True Story Plane Crash Hudson River." Air Crash Observer. ACO. Web. 19 July 2010. .

United States. National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report. By DEBORAH

A.P. HERSMAN, CHRISTOPHER A. HART, and ROBERT L. SUMWALT. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), 6 May 2010. Web. 19 July 2010. .

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