NEW YORK – With both engines out, a cool-headed pilot maneuvered his crowded jetliner along the Hudson River and ditched it in the frigid water Thursday, and all 155 on board were pulled to safety as the plane slowly sank. It was, the governor said, "a miracle on the Hudson." One victim suffered two broken legs, a paramedic said, but there were no other reports of serious injuries.
The plane, a US Airways Airbus A320 bound for Charlotte, N.C., struck a flock of birds during takeoff minutes earlier at LaGuardia Airport and was submerged up to its windows in the river by the time rescuers arrived in Coast Guard vessels and ferries. Some passengers waited in water up to their knees, standing on the wing of the plane for help.
Police divers had to rescue some of the passengers from underwater, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Among those on board was one infant who appeared to be fine, the mayor said.
In a city still wounded from the aerial attack on the World Trade Center, authorities were quick to assure the public that terrorism wasn't involved.
Helen Rodriguez, a paramedic who was among the first to arrive at the scene, said she saw one woman with two broken legs. Fire officials said others were evaluated for hypothermia, bruises and other minor injuries.
"We had a miracle on 34th Street. I believe now we have had a miracle on the Hudson," Gov. David Paterson said.
RAMROD HAS STRUCK A COMMERCIAL AIRLINER! His anger and hate has spilled into the national airways and we're all in trouble now. Apparently he took the form of a goose and flew into the fan blades and they destroyed the engine...
He is a threat that must be contained! Watch your 12 co-alt boys...if you see something small flapping it's wing, it may very well be your turn!
Oh, and they say that no terrorism was involved, but I'm leaning toward the belief that the bird was sympathetic with Al Qaeda and may have trained at one of their Poultry Camps in the mountains of Western Pakistan; his goal being to free his brothers and sisters from the death camps of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Iowa.
Images of the possible leader of this terrible hate camp have been released:
Living in Fear and Anxiety,
Rebiv4