ATC comm:
15:24:54 LaGuardia (LGA) tower controller clears Flight 1549 for takeoff from Runway 4, with instructions to turn left after departure and maintain a 360 deg heading. About a minute later, controller instructs crew to contact New York Departure Control.
15:25:51 Pilot contacts departure controller and advises aircraft was passing through at 700 ft. and climbing to 5,000 ft. Controller instructs aircraft to climb to 15,000 ft. Crew acknowledges. Controller instructs flight to turn left to heading 270 deg.
15:27:01 “Ahhh, this is 1549. Hit birds. We lost thrust in both engines. We’re turning back towards LaGuardia.” ATC acknowledges problem and instructs flight to turn left on a 220-deg heading. Crew acknowledges
Radar data from Newark and JFK sites indicate that at 15:27:01-- about 90 sec. after Flight 1549’s departure from LGA--the Airbus A320-200 intersected a “string of primary targets” between 2,900 ft. and 3,000 ft. These targets [interpretation: birds] were not depicted on the departure controller’s radar screen.
15:27:49 Departure controller advises LGA tower to halt further departures because an “emergency airplane is returning to the airport.” When queried which flight was returning, departure control advises, “It’s 1549. Birdstrike. He lost all engines, he lost the thrust in the engines. He is returning immediately.”
15:28.05 Controller asks if pilot wants to land at LaGuardia’s Runway 13. Pilot responds: “We are unable. We may end up in the Hudson.” According to the NTSB, discussion followed as to whether the flight could land at Teterboro (N.J.) airport, located about six mi. off the right side of the aircraft. Pilot responds, “We can’t do it.” When asked on which runway he would like to land, pilot responds: “We’re gonna be in the Hudson”—the last communiqué from the aircraft
15:30:30 Radar data shows aircraft touchdown in the Hudson River. Radar and tower personnel notify U.S. Coast Guard, New York City Police Dept. and other search and rescue groups. Coast Guard replies, “We launched the fleet.”The safety board’s Air Traffic Control Group had completed interviews with seven controllers and air traffic management personnel from New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) and LaGuardia (LGA) tower.