Investigation Summary
Ninety-five seconds after takeoff, US Airways 1549 encountered a flock of Canada geese. Both CFM56-5B engines lost thrust simultaneously. With no airport reachable, Captain Chesley Sullenberger configured the A320 for ditching while First Officer Skiles ran the engine restart checklist. Touchdown on the Hudson River was at 125 knots with a 9.5° nose-up attitude. All 155 occupants survived; the aircraft remained essentially intact and is preserved today at the Carolinas Aviation Museum.
Final Conclusions
The NTSB determined the probable cause was the ingestion of large birds (Canada geese) into both engines, which resulted in an almost total loss of thrust. Contributing to the survivability were the captain's decision to ditch on the Hudson rather than attempt a return to LaGuardia or a diversion to Teterboro, the crew's CRM and adherence to procedures during a high-workload event, the performance of the cabin crew in evacuation, and the rapid waterborne response by ferries. The Airbus A320's ditching certification and ram-air turbine deployment contributed to a controlled water landing.
Video Analysis
The Miracle Landing on the Hudson River | Mayday Air Disaster — How the A320's fly-by-wire envelope protections helped — and challenged — the Hudson ditching.
Watch on YouTube ↗If playback is blocked, the owner has disabled embedding — use the link above.
Systems & Failure Modes
CFM56 Engine Bird Ingestion
Certified to ingest birds up to 1.8kg. Canada geese commonly exceed 3.5kg. Multiple large-bird ingestion is outside the certification envelope.
A320 Ditching Switch
A guarded switch that closes ram-air and outflow valves to reduce water ingress. In the time available, the crew did not select it — but the airframe still floated long enough for evacuation.
Alpha-Protection
Even in a glide with both engines failed, the A320 fly-by-wire protected against stall. In the flare, it limited maximum AoA — Sully later reported he wanted slightly more nose-up authority.
Interesting Facts
- 01From bird strike to ditching: 3 minutes 28 seconds
- 02A320 envelope protection prevented stall but limited the pitch authority Sully wanted at touchdown
- 03Both engine cores were later recovered from the river bed downstream of the touchdown point
Safety Actions & Advisories
Dual-engine bird-ingestion certification (CS/FAR-E)
EASA and FAA tightened large-bird ingestion certification standards for turbofan engines, requiring demonstration of safe shutdown after ingestion of larger birds than the previous standards.
Engine-out checklist revisions
Airbus revised the ENG DUAL FAILURE checklist for the A320 family to include a low-altitude branch that prioritises the steps achievable in the time actually available below 20 000 ft — a direct NTSB recommendation.
Wildlife hazard management at airports
Source ↗FAA expanded Wildlife Hazard Assessment requirements at U.S. Part 139 airports and funded research into goose population management near major hubs.
Ditching training & checklist accessibility
Operators worldwide added the ditching scenario to recurrent simulator training and reviewed cabin-crew ditching drills and life-vest accessibility.
NTSB Accident Report AAR-10/03
Source ↗Final report — Loss of Thrust in Both Engines After Encountering a Flock of Birds and Subsequent Ditching on the Hudson River.