The pilot of an airliner that ditched in New York's Hudson River has been hailed a hero after all 155 passengers and crew were rescued.
The US Airways Airbus A320 made the crash-landing minutes out of LaGuardia airport, both its engines apparently disabled by a flock of birds.
Passengers were rescued from the wings or helped from the icy water by divers.
Captain Chesley Sullenberger was praised by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his "masterful" landing.
The state governor spoke of a "miracle on the Hudson".
Jeff Kolodjay, a passenger on the plane, described the moments before the landing:
"About three or four minutes into the flight... the left engine just blew... flames coming out of it and I was looking right at it cos I was sitting right there.
"And it just started smelling a lot like gasoline and a couple of minutes after that the pilot said 'you guys gotta brace for a hard impact'.
"And that's when everyone started, to be honest, saying prayers and we looked over the water and we thought we had a chance because, you know, there's some water."
Moments after impact, the situation inside the plane was "just controlled chaos", said passenger Dave Sanderson, of Charlotte.
"People started running up the aisle, people were getting shoved out of the way," he said.
Another passenger, Alberto Panero, said that a couple of people then "just kind of took charge and calmed everyone".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7832439.stm
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