<p>OMG, it was heading for Seattle! I’m sure the local news will be full of stories. What the pilots did was totally amazing and heroic.</p>
<p>[FlightAware</a> > Live Flight Tracker > US Airways #1549](<a href=“Suivi des vols en temps réel - FlightAware”>AWE1549 Flight Tracking and History - FlightAware)</p>
<p>The water temperature was a bit higher than the air temperature, 40 degrees vs 15.</p>
<p>Ummmmm, toasty.</p>
<p>I heard that the water temperature was 32 degrees. Either 32 or 40, survival time is measured in seconds.</p>
<p>D’s heading home to NYC today after a week with me (in So Cal), she’s been stuck in Houston all day today, first due to icy conditions in NYC, then they finally boarded their plane (3 hour delay) and within moments were being taken off again, due to the plane crash out of La Guardia (her airport) into the Hudson. She’s back on the plane now (which was 1/2 empty before and is now 3/4 empty) waiting for take off. I told her to splurge and take Super Shuttle home tonight. She’s fine, sounded upbeat and just wanting to take a nap on the flight.</p>
<p>One day at a time.</p>
<p>I agree, kudos to the pilot and crew - but also, kudos to the passengers! From what the rescued passengers are saying, the evacuation was orderly and calm. Somebody even mentioned that the passengers in the exit rows immediately jumped up and smoothly opened the window exit. Amazing! I’ve often wonderd, while listening to those instructions on take-off, just how orderly a real emergency evacuation would be.</p>
<p>NY Waterways seems to have done a wonderful job picking people up, according to local news, directly from the front exits of the plane. It must have been a terrifying experience for all those aboard the plane (and for those who saw the plane flying low over the Hudson and feared the worst thinking of September 11, also terrifying), but if it’s true, as it sounds right now, that everyone is ok, it’s also a story of things going right after they go wrong–skilled pilot, well trained rescuers close at hand, and so on. Not exactly a feel-good story, but better than it might have been. I hope the current good news about the passengers and crew is accurate.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, as of a few minutes ago, flightstats.com was still reporting the flight to be en route 26 minutes late!</p>
<p>It’s being reported that several people are in hospital being treated for hypothermia, and a flight attendant has a fracture. I hope that any people who may already have medical conditions are going to be ok. It’s dark there now…if this had to happen so thankful that that conditions were good for this landing…daylight, no ice, no boats in the way, the speed at which rescuers could approach the plane, a skilled experienced pilot.</p>
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<p>It was actually headed to Charlotte…Agree that the crew did a great job though.</p>
<p>Not only were the passengers able to all evacuate, but it looked like many of them didn’t even get wet. Incredible.</p>
<p>scout59, I agree. The pilots and crew were able to put all their training into practice and saved the lives of everyone on that aircraft. For an evacuation to work, the passengers must follow directions and work together; not easy in such a frightening situation.</p>
<p>Every member of the flight crew deserves the title of Hero in this one!</p>
<p>wow. what an amazing ending to what could have been a colossal tragedy…</p>
<p>I heard on one of the news channels that fatal hypothermia would occur in 5 minutes at the present temperature of the Hudson. Thank goodness for the fuselage floating as it did!</p>
<p>Chivalry is not dead. They let the women and children off first. I’m still trying to picture how this was so organized on a sinking plane.</p>
<p>wow… I take a nap and wake up to this news. How incredibly scary for so many people.</p>
<p>The plane was headed for Seattle with a stop in Charlotte. At least that’s what the local paper claims, and flight trackers confirm that. The news is all over the front page of the Seattle Times. They even ask if someone knows somebody on the flight.</p>
<p>FlightAware now shows the flight as “arrived” at La Guardia with a flight duration of 6 minutes:[FlightAware</a> > Live Flight Tracker > US Airways #1549](<a href=“Live Flight Tracker - FlightAware”>AWE1549 Flight Tracking and History - FlightAware)</p>
<p>My H is flying home today, and I just spoke with him. He was in meetings all day and did not hear about the news!</p>
<p>^Did you notice that the flight duration from La Guardia to Charlotte is indicated as “diverted”? Kind of an understatement! Also the green line of flight path stopping abruptly in the river. If someone was looking at this for the first time without knowing the news, it would be kind of alarming to say the least.</p>
<p>Sequoia, yikes! Once I was tracking my D’s flight trying to figure out the time to head out for the airport to meet her, and right in front of my eyes the flight made a 90-degree turn on the tracker screen :eek: I thought something happened on board and they were headed for an emergency landing! Turns out, our airport got completely shut down so the flight had to land elsewhere.</p>
<p>Here is an interesting article explaining how a bird can take down an airplane:</p>
<p>[How</a> Birds Can Down a Jet Airplane](<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090115/sc_livescience/howbirdscandownajetairplane]How”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090115/sc_livescience/howbirdscandownajetairplane)</p>
<p>That flight tracker is hysterical, as everything turned out ok.</p>
<p>An amazing job by the pilot – talk about performing under pressure. He defines the term “professional” and every passenger on that plane owes him his/her life. Kudos to the entire flight crew, all of whom I’m sure performed just as well. It’s also a testament to how well commercial airliners are built – they can take enormous stress and still remain intact.</p>
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<p>While the plane’s ultimate destination was Seattle, I seriously doubt that there was anyone flying from LGA to Seattle on that flight. There are plenty of nonstop flights from NYC-Seattle, and I can’t think of anyone that would pass up a potentially cheaper nonstop flight for one that goes down to Charlotte, sits for an hour, and then flies to Seattle. While the flight number is the same, it was pretty much intended to be 2 separate flights, LGA-CLT and CLT-SEA.</p>