Bird strike runway. Passengers and crew were evacuated through the starboard emergency exits. On January 4, 2009, a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter hit a red-tailed hawk in Louisiana. The hawk hit the helicopter just above the windscreen. The impact forced the activation of the engine fire suppression control handles, retarding the throttles and causing the engines to lose power. Eight of the nine persons on board died in the subsequent crash; the survivor, a passenger, was seriously injured. On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 from LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte/Douglas International Airport ditched into the Hudson River after experiencing a loss of
US Airways jackets. The airline painted aircraft in deep blue and medium gray with red and white accent lines. That same year, the airline also introduced a single-class subsidiary service known as MetroJet, which competed with low-cost carriers expanding into the East, in particular Southwest Airlines. MetroJet operated Boeing 737-200 aircraft, the oldest aircraft in the fleet and this allowed the aircraft to achieve the maximum utilization possible before being retired. On November 6, 1996, immediately prior to the re-branding to US Airways, the airline placed an order for up to 400 Airbus A320-series narrow body aircraft, with 120 firm orders at