Jet safety warning days before Hudson crash

The US Airways Airbus 320 that made an emergency landing on New York's Hudson River last week had an engine compressor failure two days earlier, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said. The compressor, or fan, draws air into the engine.

An NTSB spokesman, Peter Knudson, said the flight had a different pilot that day, and the board planned to interview him. NTSB investigators so far have not uncovered "any anomalies or malfunctions with Flight 1549 from the time it left the gate at LaGuardia airport on 15 January to the point the pilot [Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger] reported a bird strike and loss of engine power", Mr Knudson said.

Passengers on Flight 1549 that left LaGuardia on 13 January reported hearing loud bangs followed by an announcement from the pilot that the aircraft was either returning to LaGuardia or going to try to land. There were differing accounts of the pilot's statements. But the passengers said that a short time later the situation appeared to return to normal and the flight continued to Charlotte, North Carolina.