NTSB Meets on US Airways Airbus Flight 1549 Crash

The National Transportation Safety Board held a public Board meeting on May 4 on its investigation into the accident in which a US Airways jetliner came to rest in the Hudson River near New York City after a low-altitude encounter with a flock of birds.

The purpose of the meeting was to determine the probable cause of the accident and to consider proposed safety recommendations to reduce the likelihood of future such mishaps.

On January 15, 2009, at 3:27 p.m. EDT, US Airways flight 1549, an Airbus A320, lost engine power after striking a flock of Canada geese shortly after departing New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The captain brought the plane down into the Hudson River after determining that landing at an airport was not feasible. The plane, destined for Charlotte, N.C., carried 150 passengers and a crew of five. Four passengers and one flight attendant received serious injuries.

To supplement the facts discovered during the on-scene and subsequent follow-up investigation, the Safety Board held a three-day public hearing on this accident in June 2009. Transcripts, documents and other items from that hearing are available at:  http://www.ntsb.gov/events/2009/Weehawken-NJ/Default.html

The Board meeting was held in Washington on Tuesday, May 4, 2010, at 9:30 a.m. EDT, in the NTSB Board Room and Conference Center at 429 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W.

A live and archived webcast of the proceedings will be available on the Board’s website at http://www.ntsb.gov/Events/Boardmeeting.htm. Technical support details are available under “Board Meetings.” To report any problems, please call 703-993-3100 and ask for Webcast Technical Support. 

A summary of the Board’s final report, which will include its findings, probable cause and safety recommendations, will appear on the website shortly after the conclusion of the meeting. The entire report will appear on the website several weeks later.