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Plane crash update: AP confirms all 155 passengers and crew safe
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All 155 passengers escaped the now sunk Flight 1549 (Reuters)
Update 5:30 pm Eastern: Associated Press reports that all 155 passengers and crew of US Airways Flight 1549 have been rescued from the icy waters of the Hudson River. There are no serious injuries, according to the AP.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Airbus 320 took off at 3:36 pm Eastern for Charlotte, NC. Five minutes into the flight, the pilot announced that passengers and crew should brace themselves for a crash landing.
FAA spokesperson Laura Brown, said Flight 1549 may have hit a flock of birds and crashed into the Hudson near W. 48th Street. It's landing gear was not engaged.
A spokesperson for the Air Traffic Controllers Union said the pilot attempted to turn the plane around and land at nearby Teterboro Airport, but to no avail.
The plane was submerged in the icy waters up to the windows when rescuers in Coast Guard vessels and ferry boats arrived, opened the door and pulled passengers in yellow life vests from the aircraft, whose fuselage appeared intact. The plane was sinking in the near-freezing water on one of the coldest days of the year, with the mercury around 20 degrees.
For eyewitness accounts: www.msnbc.com; www.reuters.com
For more info and previous stories: http://www.examiner.com/x-1833-NY-Top-News-Examiner~y2009m1d15-Breaking-News--US-Airways-jet-sinks-in-Hudson-River
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