US Airways Flight 1549

High school (ages 12+)
Transportation

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/us-airways-flight-1549

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. How high is US Airways Flight 1549?Approximately 2,800 feet
2. What is the aircraft manufacturer?Airbus
3. What is the flight designation?US Airways Flight 1549
4. What happened to the airplane on Flight 1549?The plane hit a flock of Canada Geese and lost both engines, so the pilots had to land it in the Hudson River.
5. Why did the pilots choose to land in the Hudson River?Returning to an airport was too risky because they had no engine power and were too low; the river was the safest place to land.

Ditching: An emergency procedure involving the controlled landing of an aircraft on a body of water.
Birdstrike: An aviation incident where a bird or other animal collides with an aircraft.
NTSB: The National Transportation Safety Board, an independent U.S. government agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigations.
Airbus A320: A narrow-body jet airliner manufactured by Airbus, commonly used for short to medium-haul flights.