WASHINGTON – A flock of migrating Canada geese weighing eight pounds each brought down the US Airways jet that crash-landed in the Hudson river in January shortly after taking off from LaGuardia airport, scientists have determined.
Forensic examination of feather remnants extracted from the aircraft’s engines showed that the birds were not New York residents but had flown in from a region around Labrador, Canada.
Pilot Chesley Sullenberger was hailed as a hero after gliding his stricken Airbus A320 into the river with both engines out of action. All 155 passengers and crew on board survived.
Scientists from the Smithsonian National Zoo’s Migratory Bird Centre in Washington DC carried out DNA tests on the feather fragments. – (PA)