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The plane, a US Airways Airbus A320, got into trouble soon after taking off from the city’s La Guardia airport heading for Charlotte, North Carolina, apparently after hitting a flock of birds.

The pilot, identified as former US Air Force pilot Captain Chesley B “Sully” Sullenberger III, who has worked for US Airways since 1980, steered the plane clear of the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan, landing in the river.

Praise for the pilot was universal. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said: “There’s no reason to believe this is something we should not thank God for.

“It would appear that the pilot did a masterful job landing the plane in the river and making sure everyone got out.”

Alberto Pinero, a passenger, said that within a couple minutes of take-off there was an explosion and flames coming from the engines. He said: “You just heard a loud bang and the plane shook a bit.”

Passengers could smell smoke, and “the plane just started turning. Somehow, the plane stayed afloat and we were all able to get on a raft,” Mr Pinero said. “It’s just incredible now that everyone’s still alive.”

The plane was seen gyrating over the river, and onlookers watched as it glided down, landing close to a ferry port, allowing boats to rush to the rescue.

“The pilot was a real hero. It could have come down on Manhattan,” Patricia Horotan, owner of New York’s Blue Matrix technology company, told The Scotsman. “It was basically a landing on the river.”

The plane had 148 passengers, including at least one baby, and seven crew. Immediately after it hit the water the doors opened and orange rescue chutes inflated, allowing the passengers to tumble out.

Some onlookers high in office blocks were amazed to see the plane gliding down below them to hit the water.

“It just kind of glided into the water,” said Abby Zettwoch. “It came down and just started floating there. The next thing we knew we saw people getting out, it seemed well organised.

“The response of the ferries was incredible. They were here within seconds. We couldn’t believe the response.

“We started seeing people on the wings, getting into the ferries, it was so bizarre.” Eyewitnesses said the fact that not one life was lost was extraordinary.

“The plane had to land in choppy waters with temperatures at -6C.

If the plane had sunk and ferries not been instantly on the scene the strong currents in the river could have swept passengers away.

The plane landed not far from the cluster of skyscrapers around the Empire State Building, giving thousands of office workers a grandstand view looking down on the landing.

Ben Vonklemperer watched the crash in amazement from his office window. “It might sound strange, but only part of me thought this was an emergency because of how gradual and how slow and how nearly parallel this plane was with the water.

“I heard a rumour that it was part of a movie shoot. If you want to land a plane on the water this is exactly how to do it.”

The drama lasted less than three minutes. Shortly after lifting off Capt Sullenberger reportedly radioed air traffic officials to say he had suffered a “double bird strike” thought to refer to both engines being clogged with a flock of birds, thought to be geese.

But seconds later as controllers scrambled to clear other flights out of the way, he radioed to say he would try to land at Teterboro, New Jersey, because it was closer.

That was his last transmission and the pilot then steadied the plane over the Hudson River, level with 90th Street, bringing it down on a steep curve to land 50 blocks later.

Passengers said that seconds before the impact Capt Sullenberger called “brace for impact” on the intercom. Rescuers were on the scene so quickly that most passengers were able to jump from rescue rafts on to ferries

“We’ve had a miracle on the Hudson,” said New York’s governor David Paterson. The plane itself remained afloat last night, and was towed to a nearby wharf to be inspected.

Five major airliner accidents have been caused by bird strikes since 1975. More than 56,000 bird strikes were reported in the US in the past ten years.

The plane’s route was the same as that of the American Airlines Flight 11 that flew down the Hudson to hit the World Trade Centre on 11 September, 2001. However, the accident will have flight controllers worried as New York is one of the world’s busiest air corridors.

Accident that triggers memories of Potomac

IN January 1982 during a snowstorm, an Air Florida Boeing 737 plunged into the ice-covered Potomac River in central Washington killing 78 people.

The city was traumatised by the tragedy – a crash that many safety experts had feared.

The plane plunged into the river midway between the White House and the Pentagon seconds after take-off from the capital’s National Airport, and after smashing into the commuter-packed 14th Street bridge, one of the city’s main arteries between downtown DC and suburban Virginia.

Six motorists on the bridge were killed as the plane sliced the roofs off their cars. Five of the aircraft’s passengers survived after being plucked from the icy river by civilians and rescue workers.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the cause of the accident was pilot error, as the crew failed to use the anti-ice mechanism and large amounts of ice and snow formed in the engines.

Undisputed world-leading jet-liner

THE Airbus A320 is the undisputed leader in the single-aisle jet liner market, with more than 3,200 having been sold worldwide.

It is a short to medium-range commercial passenger aircraft manufactured by Airbus in France. It has a seating capacity for 142-150 passengers.

It was the first airliner to fully feature the glass cockpit with a digital fly-by-wire flight control system, where the pilot controls flight surfaces through the use of electronic signals rather than mechanically with pulleys and hydraulic systems.

The initial Air France A320 crashed during an air show in Habsheim, France, killing three passengers.

It was the first narrowbody airliner with a significant amount of its structure made from fibre composites and the first with a containerised cargo system.