By Alan Levin, USA TODAY Monday Jan 19th
NEW YORK — As US Airways Flight 1549 climbed out of LaGuardia Airport, Capt. Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger had his head down, doing routine duties while co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles flew the jet.
Then it happened.
The windscreen "was literally filled with big, dark brown birds," Sullenberger told investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board. His instinct was to duck, said NTSB member Kitty Higgins, who revealed Sunday new details of the plane's extraordinary safe landing in the Hudson River.
Sullenberger, 58, and Skiles, 49, felt thuds as the birds slammed into the jet, which was flying more than 250 mph. The captain smelled "burning birds," he told investigators.
Once the birds hit, Sullenberger immediately took control.
"My aircraft," he said
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