US Airways Flight 1549 US Airways Flight 1549 US Airways Flight 1549 was an Airbus A320-214 which, in the climbout after takeoff from New York City's LaGuardia Airport on January 15, 2009, struck a flock of Canada geese just northeast of the George Washington Bridge and consequently lost all engine power. Unable to reach any airport, pilots Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles glided the plane to a ditching in the Hudson River off Midtown Manhattan. All 155 people aboard were rescued by nearby boats and there were few serious injuries. The accident came to be known as the "Miracle on the Hudson", and a
History of the Hudson River their ancestral territory, naming the river "Muhheakantuck" ("river that flows two ways"). The first known European name for the river was the Rio San Antonio as named by the Portuguese explorer in Spain's employ, Esteban Gomez, who explored the Mid-Atlantic coast in 1525. Another early name for the Hudson used by the Dutch was "Rio de Montaigne". Later, they generally termed it the "Noortrivier", or "North River", the Delaware River being known as the "Zuidrivier", or "South River". Other occasional names for the Hudson included: "Manhattes rieviere" "Manhattan River", "Groote Rivier" "Great River", and "de grootte Mouritse reviere", or "the