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”.

The BBC’s Greg Wood reports from New York that it was a true delivery from disaster, a commercial airliner forced to ditch in the river just next to the skyscrapers of mid-town Manhattan but with no fatalities.

One person suffered two broken legs and paramedics treated 78 patients, most for minor injuries but, through a combination of luck, the skill of the pilot and a rapid emergency response, 155 people have had a very narrow escape, our correspondent says.

Air accident investigators are in New York to probe the cause of the incident.

‘Everyone counted out’

Flight 1549 departed LaGuardia en route to Charlotte, North Carolina, at 1526 local time (2026 GMT), after delays, said Laura Brown of the Federal Aviation Administration.

1 1526 local time (2026 GMT): Flight 1549 takes off from LaGuardia airport 2 1527 (2027 GMT): Pilot Chesley Sullenberger reports birds hitting engines 3 1528 (2028 GMT): Pilot told to land at Teterboro airfield 4 1531 (2031 GMT): Pilot ditches plane in Hudson River

“We believe it was airborne for three minutes after take-off when it crashed into the Hudson River,” she said.

The pilot reported a “double bird strike” less than a minute after take-off and asked to return to the ground, before ditching in the Hudson, an air controllers union spokesman said.

Ferryboats arrived within minutes of the crash to begin the rescue as passengers emerged in life jackets.

The temperature was almost -7C and the current in the Hudson was running rapidly.

The plane moved rapidly down river, threatening to submerge at one point, until guided to a halt by tug boats against a pier.

“It would appear that the pilot did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river, and then making sure that everybody got out,” Mr Bloomberg said on Thursday evening.

“I had a long conversation with the pilot. He walked the plane twice after everybody else was off and tried to verify that there was nobody else onboard. And assures us there were not.”

The mayor also commended emergency services, saying: “They train for these kinds of emergencies, and you saw it in action.”

New York Governor David Paterson said: “I think that in simplicity, this is really a potential tragedy that may have become one of the most spectacular days in the history of New York City’s agencies.”

Bracing for impact

Stephanie Nachman, who works in a high-rise building in Times Square, said she had seen the plane crash.

“It wasn’t wild or erratic but if as it was landing on a runway,” she said.

Within minutes, she added, people got out, doors popped out and rafts unfurled.

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”.

Israeli tanks have pushed deep into Gaza City, prompting fierce exchanges of gunfire with fighters of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The UN’s relief agency, Unrwa, says part of its HQ in Gaza caught fire after being hit by Israeli shells.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed outrage and said Israel described it as a grave mistake, although Israel denied this.

Efforts to reach a truce continue, with Israel’s head negotiator in Cairo to discuss an Egyptian ceasefire plan.

Hamas said the talks had made progress, but did not elaborate.

Speaking to reporters on the Israel-Gaza border, Unrwa spokesman Christopher Gunness said three of the agency’s employees were hurt in the attack on its compound in Gaza City.

He said the compound was hit by what Unrwa believed to be three white phosphorus shells, which are incendiary weapons used to create smoke screens.

About 700 people were still sheltering in the compound, he said, and the fire had been burning close to five full fuel tanks.

Mr Gunness added that Unrwa would not be able to distribute food or medical supplies on Thursday as its trucks were unable to leave the compound.

An Israeli security source said Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak had told Mr Ban that he regretted that UN personnel had been hurt, but denied that Mr Barak had said it was a “grave mistake”.

Escalation

Israeli military officials say they attacked 70 military targets overnight, including a mosque they say was being used to store weapons.

The BBC’s Hamada Abuqammar in Gaza said the coastal enclave came under extremely heavy artillery fire from the east in the early hours, and that the skies were full of thick smoke.

Our correspondent said Israeli tanks seemed to be pushing closer to the heart of Gaza City, close to the Unrwa headquarters, and that there were reports of 21 people killed in fighting since the early hours.

Witnesses said they saw soldiers on foot marching behind bulldozers and tanks.

Rushdi Abualouf, the BBC’s Gaza producer, described the scene as the building where he lives in Tel al-Hawa, south-west of Gaza City, was surrounded by Israeli tanks.

Tank shells hit the lower floors two or three times, he said.

“People have been screaming from their balconies, calling for help,” he said.

He said that from his window he could see fighters from Hamas and other Palestinian factions firing at Israeli tanks from rooftops and balconies, and that the Israeli tanks were firing back.

Reports said at least 15 rockets had been fired from Gaza into Israel since the early morning.

More than 1,000 Gazans and 13 Israelis have reportedly died so far in the conflict.

Speaking to the press after meeting Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv, Mr Ban repeated previous calls for an immediate ceasefire, and said the suffering in Gaza was a “dire humanitarian crisis” that had reached an “unbearable point”.

In other developments:

• The UK Foreign Office minister Lord Malloch-Brown says the British government “utterly” condemns the attack on the UN headquarters in Gaza. Fierce criticism also came from the French foreign ministry
• Two hospitals in Gaza City are hit by shellfire: the al-Quds hospital in Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, scene of heavy fighting, and a Red Crescent hospital, the UK Red Cross says
• The Shurouq tower block in Gaza City, which houses the offices of the Reuters news agency and several other media organisations, is hit by an explosion, injuring a journalist for the Abu Dhabi television channel
• Leaders of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council are to meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss the crisis. The Saudi monarch, King Abdullah, said the meeting was convened because of what he called Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people
• A boat carrying medical supplies to Gaza is surrounded by Israeli warships in international waters off Lebanon’s southern coast and forced to return to Cyprus, according to charity Free Gaza
• Palestinian deaths in the Gaza Strip reach 1,028 according to Gaza medical sources. Nearly a third of the dead are said to be children

‘Detailed vision’

Israel’s chief negotiator, Amos Gilad, has arrived in Cairo to discuss an Egyptian ceasefire plan that could end the 20-day-old conflict.

Egypt has been leading efforts to broker a ceasefire that could include a peacekeeping force being deployed along its border with Gaza to prevent the smuggling of weapons.

Hamas official Salah al-Bardawil said his movement had presented Egyptian negotiators with a “detailed vision” of how to bring about a ceasefire.

These details concerned how to ensure border crossings into Gaza could be re-opened under international supervision, he said, and would be presented to Israeli envoys visiting Cairo.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, has said any ceasefire agreement would have to include a halt to Israeli attacks, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and the opening of border crossings to end the blockade of Gaza.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said there was “momentum” to the talks.

“Ultimately we want to see a long-term sustainable quiet in the south, a quiet that’s going to be based on the total absence of all hostile fire from Gaza into Israel, and an internationally supported mechanism that will prevent Hamas from rearming,” Mr Regev said.

Egypt and other key Arab players can do some coaxing and arm-twisting with Hamas, says BBC Arab affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi, but there is little pressure they can bring to bear upon Israel: only the US has that sort of influence.

Israel launched its offensive on the Gaza Strip on 27 December and has refused to allow international journalists to enter Gaza, making it impossible to independently confirm casualty figures.

The offensive has provoked widespread international condemnation at the cost in civilian casualties and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the coastal enclave.

Source: BBC

A search operation is going on after a ferry sank in stormy seas in central Indonesia, carrying about 250 passengers and 17 crew , officials say.

A transport agency spokesman said 18 people have been rescued alive, but fears are rising that scores of others will be found dead.

Rescue efforts were hampered by high waves and nightfall.

Recent years have seen several ferry accidents in Indonesia. More than 400 people died when a ferry sank in 2006.

The captain of the Teratai Prima, who was among those pulled alive from the sea, said that about 150 people managed to jump off before the vessel went down, AP reported.

A few survivors are said to have been spotted by fishermen as they drifted on lifeboats, but it is not yet known how many are still missing, the BBC’s Lucy Williamson reports from Jakarta.

Deadly crossing

The ferry was making an overnight journey from Pare Pare in South Sulawesi to Samarinda in East Kalimantan.

Indonesia’s state-run Antara news agency said the vessel went down at 0400 local time (2100 GMT Saturday) in stormy seas.

The area has been buffeted by storms, heavy rains and high winds for several days, causing flash flooding in some areas.

Indonesia relies heavily on ferry services to connect the main islands in the archipelago, but accidents are common.

In December 2006, a ferry carrying more than 600 people sank while on a journey from Borneo to Java. The majority of its passengers were never found.

Months later, at least 42 people were killed when a fire broke out aboard a ferry from Jakarta to Bangka island off Sumatra.

There have also been several accidents involving Indonesia’s domestic airlines, prompting the European Union to ban Indonesian carriers from its airspace.

Source: BBC

Israel has dropped leaflets on the Gaza Strip warning residents that it is to escalate its military action.

There is speculation the leaflets may mean Israel will adopt new tactics in its battle with Palestinian militants.

On Saturday, Israel attacked dozens of Hamas targets, including what it says were rocket-launching sites, weapons stores, and smuggling tunnels.

Meanwhile, Hamas militants have fired several rockets at Israeli towns, injuring two Israelis in Ashkelon.

Medical staff in Gaza say more than 800 Palestinians have died during the two-week offensive. Thirteen Israelis have been killed, most of them troops.

Leaflets and phone messages in Arabic urged Gaza residents to keep away from sites linked to Hamas, saying that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were not targeting Gazans but “Hamas and the terrorists only”.

One phone message said “the third stage” of the operation would start soon. It is two weeks since air strikes on Gaza began. The ground attacks started a week ago.

Correspondents say phase three could see Israeli forces moving deeper into cities and refugee camps - that will involve new risks for Israeli soldiers and civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Rocket fire

In the bloodiest incident so far on Saturday, eight people who appeared to be civilians were killed when an Israeli tank shell hit a street in Jabaliya, Palestinian medical officials said.

Overnight, Israel said it launched more than 40 attacks on Hamas targets, and that more than 15 militants were killed.

These figures could not be independently confirmed. Israel is preventing international journalists from entering the coastal strip.

On the ground, Israeli troops are reported to have moved closer to the edge of Gaza City, though they have yet to go into the most densely populated areas.

Hamas fired more rockets at Israel, injuring two Israelis in the town of Ashkelon, the Israeli military said. It follows more than 30 missiles attacks from Gaza the previous day, it said.

The continued violence comes as rival Palestinian groups converged on Cairo for discussions about an Egyptian ceasefire initiative, which is also sponsored by France.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas urged all sides to accept the proposal “without delay”, after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo.

But Mr Abbas - who heads the secular Fatah movement, bitter rivals of Hamas - does not control Gaza, and analysts say he will have little impact on the course of the conflict.

Hamas, which took control of Gaza in June 2007, has sent delegates to Cairo for the second time in a week for separate talks.

Egypt negotiated the last ceasefire between Hamas and Israel but, correspondents say, this conflict has strained an already difficult relationship between Cairo and Hamas.

Israel and Hamas have ignored a UN Security Council call for an immediate ceasefire that would lead to the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Israel said the continued rocket attacks showed the resolution was “unworkable”, while Hamas insisted any truce must include the ending of Israel’s economic blockade of Gaza.

Aid agencies say Gaza’s 1.5 million residents are in urgent need of food and medical aid.

The UN says it has resumed aid deliveries in Gaza after suspending operations on Thursday when it said the driver of one of its lorries was killed by Israeli fire.

The IDF said it was “100% certain” it did not attack the vehicle.

The violence erupted as a six-month truce between Israel and Hamas unravelled in November and comes one month before a parliamentary election in Israel.

Source: BBC

New England captain Andrew Strauss will address the media at a news conference at Lord’s at 1500 GMT.

He replaces Kevin Pietersen who quit on Wednesday after just five months in charge following a fall-out with coach Peter Moores, who was sacked.

Pietersen made no comment after flying into London on Thursday following a holiday in South Africa.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has yet to decide who will replace Moores ahead of February’s Caribbean tour.

It is not known whether Strauss will also take charge of the one-day and Twenty20 teams.

Wednesday’s tumultuous events left England in disarray ahead of the West Indies trip and the Ashes series against Australia this summer.

England batsman Ian Bell told BBC Radio 5 Live the players had been “shocked” by the news that their coach and captain had departed.

“We genuinely never knew things were so bad,” said Bell. “We haven’t really known too much, or heard much through the ECB. It’s been pretty amazing.

“All captains and coaches are going to have different ideas and that happens in all sports. I’m sure that’s always the case and I’m amazed it’s become so public. But I think when it comes out like that it’s the only way it has to end.

“I’ve really enjoyed my cricket under Moores and I’ve probably had some of my best performances for England under him.

“It’s been a tricky few days and the team are looking forward to getting back out on the field and playing some cricket, moving things on as fast a possible and giving Straussy the biggest support we can to get things back on track.”

Pietersen, who admitted last week his relationship with Moores was strained, has stated his desire to remain involved in the England set-up.

Bell added: “On his day KP is the best player in the world and you want that in your dressing room.

“He is a matchwinner, he plays well under pressure and there is no doubt that we need his self-belief, or ego if you want to call it that, to beat Australia. He will be a massive part of English cricket.

“Having Kevin in the team makes it a much better team than without him in there. Kevin is a top-notch professional and I’m sure he’ll be right on his game in the West Indies.

And former skipper Michael Vaughan, whose potential return to the England team led to a clash between Pietersen and Moores, has backed him to put the controversy behind him.

“What Kevin has to do now is go to the West Indies and score a hundred in the first Test, then it will be forgotten,” Vaughan told the Daily Telegraph.

“England need Kevin to be challenging to be the number one batsman in the world.

“Strauss and KP get on well although they are very different people. There will be pressure on KP after all the controversy and I hope he is not going to be affected by it.

“He has the flair and ability to make world-class bowlers look ordinary, and I think he will average 50-odd and become the world number one.”

BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew believes Pietersen was desperate not to relinquish the captaincy but insists he has only himself to blame.

“He hung on and he hung one, he didn’t want to go. It wasn’t until 1715 GMT that he finally resigned when he was given the ultimatum by the ECB that either you resign or you are going to be sacked,” Agnew told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“He brought about his own downfall. He clearly felt that he had the team behind him in flagging up that he didn’t think Peter Moores was a good enough coach to take England forward and he miscalculated there.

“We can probably assume that Andrew Flintoff was more in the Moores camp than Pietersen’s. There will have been one or two other senior players who will have felt the same way too.

With England then hosting the West Indies, the ICC World Twenty20 and the Ashes, Agnew feels it was important for the Pietersen-Moores rift to come out sooner rather than later.

“The Board were very angry that this had been put into the public domain but I’d say thank goodness it was,” he added.

“If it hadn’t come out now what would the impact have been had it come out in April or May, with the Ashes just around the corner? It would have been an absolute disaster for English cricket.

“Now they have got time to put things in place, get a new captain and go out and find a good new coach. It might be the man they didn’t bother approaching last time, Tom Moody.

“There have now been three captains in far too short a space of time. I wouldn’t have thought there will be a coach in place until the start of this summer, but this sort of thing can sometimes pull a team together.”

Duncan Fletcher, Moores’s predecessor as England coach, thinks Strauss could have serious problems uniting a squad that is reportedly divided over Pietersen.

The Sun newspaper described Pietersen as “cricket’s most hated man” who had been “shunned” by his team-mates and employers, the Daily Mirror claimed Flintoff, James Anderson, Graeme Swann and Steve Harmison were “not his fans” and the Daily Mail alleged “Flintoff and other senior players had turned against him in his battle for power with Peter Moores”.

“Not the least of the difficulties will be how to handle KP when he returns to the rank and file,” Fletcher wrote in his Guardian column.

“The ECB has exposed him somewhat by admitting that its research, whatever form it took, revealed a lack of support for Pietersen as captain.

“That to me sounds like a huge problem in the making: will the dressing room divide into pro- and anti-KP camps? How will it gel?

“Will the new captain have the backing of all the senior players? It’s going to be a huge issue for the poor captain in the months ahead.”

Source: BBC