Passengers and crew had a miraculous escape tonight after a US airliner plunged into the Hudson River in New York.

According to the FAA everyone on board the US Airways Airbus 320 survived the crash shortly after take-off from LaGuardia Airport.

Passengers could be seen standing on both wings of the plane, which was upright in the freezing water.

Large numbers of passengers wearing yellow life jackets were pulled from the water and taken on board ferries to safety.

The Federal Aviation Admini- stration said US Airways Flight 1549 took off from LaGuardia Airport before crashing into the water off Manhattan.

It is not clear if anyone was injured in the incident.

The plane's two engines were disabled by bird strikes, officials said. No casualties have been reported.

Eyewiotnesses on the ground said the plane flew into a flock of birds as it left LaGuardia.

"There is no indication that the incident is security related", a Homeland Security official told the BBC.

A passenger who escaped from the aircraft told CNN he thought that all those on board had emerged unscathed.

"A couple of minutes after taking off we heard a loud bang, the plane shook a bit and immediately we could smell smoke and fire," the passenger said.

Fox News correspondent Rick Leventhal told Sky News that the plane, which is believed to have been heading for North Carolina, would have flown over the city after taking off.

He said: "When you take off from LaGuardia you fly over the city.

"It is one of the most beautiful views of New York."

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said: "The flight took off at 3.26 eastern time. We believe it was airborne for three minutes after take-off when it crashed into the Hudson River.

"The reports of bird strikes come from eyewitnesses on the ground."

The FAA said 150 passengers and five crew members were on board the aircraft.

One rescued passenger told CNN: "I'm pretty sure everybody got off. Thank God everyone is pretty much OK."

A passenger told CNN: "I was standing on the left wing for a little while.

"I hope none of us ever have to experience it again.

"I think everyone got out of the plane.

"I think everyone survived and that's miraculous."

An eyewitness told the BBC: "It made a pretty big splash when it landed on the water. I just hope everybody's OK."

Aviation expert James Ferguson said he had never seen anything like it.

"If you hit water fairly hard, as you will do with an aircraft, it tends to break up. But this aircraft seems to be virtually undamaged," he said.

Former BA pilot Eric Moody told Sky News the plane's pilot had performed a "textbook ditching".

He said: "That very rarely happens, unless you are near a runway. Whoever has flown that has done a really good job."

Large numbers of passengers wearing yellow life jackets were seen being pulled from the water and taken on board ferries.

Some, who had been standing on the plane's fuselage, were not even wet when they were rescued.