NY Marine Unit Officers Respond To Airliner Crash In Hudson River

On the afternoon of January 15th, the Park Police dispatch center for the New York Field Office received notification that there was an airplane in the water in the Hudson River. Marine Patrol Unit officers Laura Teeple and John Pommerehn immediately responded from Ellis Island to the area in Marine 7,  a 44-foot Sea Ark police vessel, and headed towards the area of the reported crash – the Hudson River west of 49th Street. The weather conditions were extreme, with very cold air and water temperatures and an extremely swift current. Upon arriving on scene, the officers found a U.S. Airways commercial airliner in the water surrounded by passenger ferries recovering the airline passengers from the downed aircraft. There were also numerous law enforcement vessels in the area, including the New York City Police Department with a cadre of divers and the U.S. Coast Guard. A scan of the area by Teeple and Pommerehn revealed no apparent bodies in the water, but there was a large amount of small and large plane debris as well as passenger property floating in the river. The officers were able to retrieve potential evidence from the water, including mechanical and structural components of the plane. Amongst the property recovered was a hydraulic mechanism from the plane as well as parts of the plane's door and miscellaneous fragments of the plane’s body. The officers also recovered several pieces of the passengers’ property. The officers remained at the scene and assisted in maintaining a secure perimeter around the crash site.