Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- A US Airways Group Inc. jetliner headed from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina, went down in the Hudson River today less than three minutes after takeoff with 155 aboard. All passengers and crew members are safe, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The pilot, identified by CNN as Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger, put the plane down in the 40-degree water just off the West 50s, a few blocks from the dock of the USS Intrepid, in what Mayor Michael Bloomberg called “a masterful job.”

“We have had a ‘Miracle on 34th Street’; I believe now we have had a miracle on the Hudson,” said New York Governor David Paterson. “This is a potential tragedy that may have become one of New York City’s most spectacular days.”

Bloomberg said at the same press conference that none of the injuries appeared serious, and an infant was among those rescued. The injured were taken to hospitals in New York and New Jersey, where some were treated for hypothermia.

“Our initial indication was that there was a large flock of birds in the area,” FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said on a conference call with reporters. “We don’t have any indication whether that was the cause of the accident or not.”

Bird Strike Reported

The pilot reported the plane, Flight 1549, hit a flock of geese after taking off at about 3 p.m. from LaGuardia Airport, MSNBC said. Fire department, Coast Guard and Circle Line cruise boats and commuter ferries were dispatched.

The plane, which city officials said was an Airbus A320, was submerged up to its windows in the icy river as passengers scrambled onto the wings. It soon began sinking, and was towed to Battery Park in lower Manhattan.

“Ditching an aircraft is a significant accomplishment on the part of the pilot, as opposed to crashing one,” said George Hamlin, managing director of airline consulting firm ACA Associates in Fairfax, Virginia, and a former Airbus executive. “There’s no place for an airplane of that size to land in Manhattan.”

Bill Zuhoski, 23, of Long Island, New York, told reporters he was sitting in the back of the plane when he felt a sudden jerk. Passengers weren’t concerned until the flight attendants appeared nervous and then the pilot told everyone to brace for impact.

“How do you brace yourself for impact when you know your plane’s going to crash?” Zuhoski said at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan. “The impact was the most tremendous impact you can imagine. My head slammed and I lost my glasses and the water immediately began rushing in.”

Boats to Rescue

New York Waterway, which provides service from New Jersey to New York, dispatched four or five boats to the scene after a captain of one of them saw the plane go down, said Zaheer Aziz, a customer service representative for the company.

“We were first on the scene before the Coast Guard got there,” Aziz said. “They brought in a couple” of survivors.

“They were cold and were saying, ‘Hurry up,’” said Osman Berete, 24, a deckhand for New York Waterway, who helped rescue 24 people.

Larry Witt, 42, an employee of OXO International, a household products company on West 26th Street between 11th and 12th avenues, had an unobstructed view of the Hudson. Witt said he was looking out the window and saw the plane about a minute after it went down.

Refuge on Wings

“It was just floating in the river,” he said. Then the front door opened, and soon “the entire wing was loaded with people.” Temperatures in New York were about 19 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 7 Celsius) at the time.

Some of the passengers were employees of banks with offices in Charlotte, a major U.S. banking center. Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. reported having people aboard. The airline said the manifest included 150 passengers and five crew.

“They’re probably zeroing in on the possibility of a bird strike,” said Peter Goelz, former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board. “You can handle hitting maybe one bird, but not three or four. If you get a flock of Canada geese, you’re going to be in trouble.”

The U.S. has been in the safest period for aviation in the nation’s history, FAA Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell said Jan. 9. There were no fatalities aboard any U.S. airline flight in 2007 or 2008, the first time in the history of the jet age that has occurred, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said in a speech yesterday.

President George W. Bush said that he and his wife, Laura, were “inspired by the skill and heroism of the flight crew as well as the dedication and selflessness of the emergency responders and volunteers who rescued passengers from the icy waters of the Hudson.”

The mayor is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, parent company of Bloomberg News.

To contact the reporter on this story: Charlotte Porter in New York at cporter11@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 15, 2009 20:25 EST