According to CNN, passengers, apparently on the same plane as last Thursday's Flight 1549, "heard a series of loud bangs and the flight crew told them they could have to make an emergency landing." Last Thursday, US Airways Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River after its engines failed, apparently after a bird strike.
Passenger Steve Jeffrey of Charlotte, North Carolina, told CNN he was flying in first class Tuesday when, about 20 minutes into the flight, "it sounded like the wing was just snapping off."
"The red lights started going on. A little pandemonium was going on," Jeffrey recalled.
He said the incident occurred over Newark, New Jersey, soon after the plane -- also flying as Flight 1549 -- had taken off from LaGuardia Airport in New York.
"It seemed so loud, like luggage was hitting the side but times a thousand. It startled everyone on the plane," Jeffrey said. "We started looking at each other. The stewardesses started running around. They made an announcement that 'everyone heard the noise, we're going to turn around and head back to LaGuardia and check out what happened.'"
The NTSB confirmed that the plane's logs showed a compressed engine issue last Tuesday; last Tuesday's flight was captained by a different pilot.
The NY Times reports that US Airways gave January 15's Flight 1549 passengers $5,000 for their lost bags.
