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 Group is open to merger. As of September 2012, American Airlines, under chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, was looking to merge with another airline. In July of that year, in a Bankruptcy Court filing US Airways disclosed that it was an American Airlines creditor and "prospective merger partner. Then on August 31, 2012, US Airways CEO Doug Parker announced that American Airlines and US Airways had signed a nondisclosure agreement, in which the airlines would discuss their financials and a possible merger." On February 14, 2013, US Airways Group and AMR Corporation officially announced that the two companies would merge to form