Smithsonian Science in the News: Investigating the "Miracle on the Hudson"

Less than a minute after taking off from La Guardia Airport on January 15, 2009, US Airways flight 1549 collided with a flock of birds. The engines went dead and the pilot made an emergency landing on the Hudson River, saving everyone on board. The remains of the birds were sent to the CSI of the bird world—the National Museum of Natural History's Feather Identification Lab. This small exhibition case explains how museum scientists worked with transportation safety experts in this modern aviation mystery.