US Airways Flight 1549 Crashes into Hudson River

US Airways Flight 1549, a flight from LaGuardia Airport in New York bound for Charlotte, N.C has crashed into the Hudson River shortly after takeoff.

The immediate cause of the crash is unknown, but the A320 may have been hit by a flock of geese according to one report.

The plane carried 146 passengers and 5 crew.

Immediate injuries are unknown, but miraculously the plane managed to pitch in full into the Hudson River, just across from the Lincoln Tunnel, near 48th street.

The first picture from the scene (above) comes from Twitter user Janis Krums, who was on a ferry at the time of the crash, the first boat on the scene.

Emergency services are at the scene evacuating passengers. More when we have it.

Update: an eyewitness claims that the plane landed in the water like “a normal runway landing.” Later pictures from the scene show the plane clearly sinking. Historically there have only been a handful of successful water landings of jet aircraft.

Update 2: FAA believes the crash was caused by birdstrike. Unconfirmed report that air traffic in the area was suspended following the crash for a short period due to a fear that the crash may have been terrorist related.

Update 3: A passenger who escaped from the aircraft told CNN he thought that all those on board had emerged unscathed.
“A couple of minutes after taking off we heard a loud bang, the plane shook a bit and immediately we could smell smoke and fire.”