NTSB Confirms Bird Strike In NYC Jet Crash

US Airways Airliner Ditched In Hudson River Last Month Had Birds In Both Engines

(AP)  Federal safety officials said Wednesday they've confirmed there were birds in both engines of the US Airways airliner that ditched into New York's Hudson River last month.

The National Transportation Safety Board said remains from both engines have also been sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington to have the particular bird species identified.

Flight 1549's pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, reported moments after taking off from LaGuardia Airport on Jan. 15 that the airliner had collided with birds and both engines had failed. All 155 people aboard survived the dramatic water landing, which was captured on security videos and viewed around the world.

The safety board also said that an engine surge experienced by the Airbus A320 two days before the accident was due to faulty temperature sensor. The sensor was replaced, and the engine was examined and found to be undamaged before being returned to service.

The plane's left engine has been shipped to the headquarters of the manufacturer, CFM International, in Cincinnati, where it is being torn down, the board said. However, the flight data recorder revealed no anomalies or malfunctions in either engine until Sullenberger reported striking birds, the board said.

Engine maintenance records also show the engines had been serviced in compliance with the Federal Aviation Administration's most recent safety directive, the board said.

Last week, the aircraft was moved from the barge where it had been docked in Jersey City, N.J., to a secure salvage yard in Kearny, N.J, where it will remain throughout the estimated 12 to 18 months the NTSB investigation could take.

[mitdgreenb]

SwingSet -- you crack me up.

apndrgn -- Al Gore INVENTED your shiny metal engines. :-)

To the rest of you who think this is wasteful spending: air travel is a lot safer than most other means of transportation. Why? Because of the dedication of a lot of resources to make it that way. Why should we dedicate so many resources to a crash with an "obvious" cause? Because crashes are so rare that each one must be fully investigated to glean any useful data for improvements. And a crash where the plane is largely intact is especially valuable. The investigation here will go deeper than metallurgy of jet engine turbine blades: there will be a thorough analysis of radar data, communications from other aircraft, etc. to see if any sort of warning could have been given. There will be an analysis of the "ditch" checklist to see why it was that there was insufficient time to get to the "throw the ditch switch" checkoff. There will be an analysis of crew instructions to see why a passenger opened a rear door mistakenly and sunk the plane faster. And so on. And ALL of this will make YOU safer the next time you fly, or a plane flies over you.

Think of it this way: if every car crash costs $1000 of investigative time (by police, insurance, etc.), then 1000 car crashes is $1M. How many $M do we then spend investigating car crashes?

[caco58]

To bad the NTSB had no planes (out of 4) to investigate 911. All 4 planes completely vanished Hmmmm.... God help us.

[zorar-2009]

DAAAAAAAAAAA....or more like Honk Honk!

[yongamerica]

The government suspects that these may have suicide terrorist birds trained by Iran.

[apndrgn]

swingset4u----

Al Gore can bite my shiny metal engines...

[swingset4u]

Last week, the aircraft was moved from the barge where it had been docked in Jersey City, N.J., to a secure salvage yard in Kearny, N.J, where it will remain throughout the estimated 12 to 18 months the NTSB investigation could take.

Okay this is wasteful GOV. spending at it''s worst.... The accident occured on January 15, 2009. It is February 4, 2009 and the Federal safety officials have determined that BIRD strikes are the cause of this accident.. So why investigate it further for the next year to year and a half????

[swingset4u]

These were Canadian Gazaban blown off course by wierd weather.

Posted by apndrgn

Your investigation needs to be relayed to Al Gore letting him know global Warming was to blame for the "Weird Weather" that blew these birds off course! Thanks so much for your dedicated services to humanity!

[swingset4u]

So, wklarson, How much money do you want to figure this out???? Name your price and please provide us all a time-line in which we can see the results of your incredible research. A person of your caliber, by the way you post, could do this how quickly?

[swingset4u]

At least one airport uses border collies to keep birds out of the way of the runways, maybe LaGuardia needs them...our old border collie would have loved that gig.

Posted by cbsjb1954

WOW!!!!! YOU HAVE FLYING DOGS????

[swingset4u]

At least one airport uses border collies to keep birds out of the way of the runways, maybe LaGuardia needs them...our old border collie would have loved that gig.

Posted by cbsjb1954

WOW!!!!! YOU HAVE FLYING DOGS????