US Airways A320 crash
A US Airways Airbus A320 has crash-landed in the Hudson River west of New York City after a departure from LaGuardia Airport this afternoon.
According to flight tracking program, FlightAware, Flight 1549, enroute from LaGuardia to Charlotte, took off at approximately 1526h and climbed as high as 3,200ft before beginning a descent.
The final radar data from the tracking program indicates the aircraft travelling at 153kt at 300ft altitude at 1531h.
The graphic to the right shows data from takeoff (bottom Right) to final data point (bottom left). Data next to each point shows time (military), airspeed and altitude, along with latitude and longitude.
Click here to view Operations & Safety editor David Learmount's video analysis of the crash
About US Airways
US Airways is the fifth-largest US airline, serving more than 230 destinations in the US, Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. As a Star Alliance member, US Airways can provide connections to 0ver 840 destinations in over 150 countries worldwide.
US Airways has a fleet of over 350 aircraft, mainly comprising of Airbus A320 family aircraft - 195 and Boeing 737 family aircraft - 90.
History
Established originally in 1939 as All American Aviation, flying air-mail pick up and delivery routes in Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley, the airline became All American Airways and started passenger services in 1949. In 1953 the name was changed once more to Allegheny Airlines, which was then absorbed into Lake Central Airlines in 1968 and Mohawk Airlines in 1972.
The airline became known as USAir in 1979 and merged with Pacific Southwest Airlines in 1988 and Piedmont Airlines in 1989. The US Airways name was adopted in 1997.
On August 11th 2002 US Airways filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from which it emerged on March 31st 2003.
In May 2004, US Airways joined the Star Alliance global airline group but in September of the same year declared itself bankrupt again.
In September 2005 US Airways and America West Airlines announced the completion of their merger, with the US Airways Group retaining ownership of America West Airlines through America West Holdings Corp.
Fleet
92 Airbus A319-100
28 Airbus A321-200
40 Boeing 737-400
