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(AP Photo/Edouard H. R. Gluck)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Audio recordings of the communications between air traffic controllers and the cockpit of US Airways Flight 1549 reflect the tension and confusion before the jet ditched into New York's Hudson River last month. But they also reveal the pilot's calm demeanor.
The trouble starts just after takeoff, when the aircraft reports that it "hit birds" and "lost thrust in both engines."
Controllers handling the departure tell the LaGuardia tower to stop departures because Flight 1549 is "returning immediately."
The pilot radios back less than 20 seconds later saying the plane can't make it back and "may end up in the Hudson."
At that point the controller contacts the tower at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, requests a runway, and then issues instructions for the plane to turn right, giving it a heading. The pilot replies "We can't do it."
After the controller asks, "Which runway would you like at Teterboro?" the response is calm: "We're going to be in the Hudson."
The air controller asks the pilot to repeat his message, but gets no reply.
Pilot Chesley Sullenberger has told FAA investigators he ditched the plane, because he didn't want to risk a catastrophic crash in a densely populated area. All 155 aboard survived.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
