Recovery Of "Miracle" Jet Engine Delayed
Federal authorities say more time is needed to recover an engine that broke off a US Airways plane that splashed down in the Hudson River.
It was thought the engine - located by police divers Wednesday about 65 feet below the icy water - could be pulled up as early as Thursday. But the National Transportation Safety Board now says "general logistical issues" will push back recovery attempts until Friday or Saturday, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.
Investigators want to closely inspect the engine to better understand if it conked out after colliding with a flock of birds shortly after the plane's takeoff from LaGuardia Airport.
The NTSB said an examination of the Airbus 320's right engine revealed evidence of "soft body damage" and that "organic material" was found in the engine and on the wings and fuselage. Samples of the material have gone to the Agriculture Department for a complete DNA analysis, the board said.
A single feather was found attached to a flap track on the wing and will be examined by experts at the Smithsonian Institution.
The pilot of Flight 1549, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, reported a "double bird strike" and a loss of power in both engines before gliding the plane to an emergency river landing last week. All 155 people on board the flight to Charlotte, N.C., survived.
The board also reported Wednesday that:
New York Police Department and New Jersey State Police harbor officers working with a sonar expert from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration got a reading Tuesday of an object 16 feet long and 8 feet wide near the spot where Flight 1549 made its emergency landing.
Divers went into the icy, murky water and located the left engine in about 10 minutes, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.
Police already located several pieces of debris from the flight, including 35 flotation seat cushions, 12 life jackets, 15 pieces of luggage, two briefcases, 11 purses, 15 suit jackets and shirts, four shoes and two hats, Browne said.
(Watch video of passengers escaping from Flight 1549 below)