Plane Crashes
Into Hudson River

A U.S. Airways plane leaving New York's LaGuardia airport for Charlotte, N.C., has crashed into the Hudson River. U.S. Airways flight 1549 experienced a failed takeoff at 3:11 p.m. from LaGuardia, located in northern Queens, just east of Manhattan. MSNBC reports that the malfunction had to do with the plane hitting a flock of geese. The A320 jetliner is floating near The USS Intrepid, docked near 57th Street, according to local television news station New York 1.

The plane was delayed nearly a half hour until it finally took off. It has 169 passengers and five crew members.

Some passengers are being rescued as the fuselage is now sinking into freezing water. Temperatures in New York are currently about 20 degrees as of 4 p.m. EST. The Coast Guard told CNN that units are responding, and a ferry was on site dropping life jackets into the water and rescuing passengers.