N90-TRACON-0122
AWE1549

Page 5 of 11

2031:15 cc
2031:25 cc
2031:28 SEQ
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2031:30 SEQ
2032

2032:25 SEQ
2032:29 SEQ
2032:31 cc
2032:34 SEQ
2032:37 cc
2032:39 SEQ
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2032:47 SEQ
2032:48 ce
2033

2034

2034:35 ce
2034:42 cc
2034:43 SEQ

sequencer tower

okay that cactus we got a report he went down in the
river abeam the intrepid

yeah tower

okay thank you

okay

okay

laguardia tower

laguardia tower approach

you calling

yeah you have ah do you have that cactus in sight

no the cactus is gone he’s down in the river right now

he actually went down

he went down in the hudson river abeam the intrepid ah
he’s sending out the rescue everybody’s been notified
and just be careful with your arrivals okay

okay

mike whiskey

sequencer tower

sequencer tower

yeah what do you have


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AWE1549

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2043:09

2043:10

2043:11

2043:13
2044
(2045-2046)
2047
2047:17

2047:22

2047:23

2047:27

2047:41

2047:41

2047:42
2048
(2049-2054)
2055
2055:43

2055:47

2055:48

2055:52

2055:55

2055:56

UNK

cc

UNK

cc

SEQ

cc

SEQ

cc

SEQ

cc

SEQ

PA

ce

PA

cc

PA

CC:

what’s your initials

alpha golf

alpha golf

okay thanks

hey coordinator ah coordinator sequence

i’m here al

hey billy how much mile how many ah how much spacing you
want on the expressways

we really don't need much you know what we're we're
holding off on the departures until we get a little bit
more guidance from ah maybe leo ah akin ah we really
don't need much just give us four four to five

okay we'll give you we’ll give you five

okay

okay thanks

hello (unintelligible) what’s up

did you got words about the (unintelligible)

(unintelligible) we got survivors we got survivors
alright they’re picking em up

okay very good

there are numerous survivors

thank you very much


N90-TRACON-0
AWE1549

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2037:30

2037:37

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2037:59

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2038:03

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2038:13

2038:27

2038:28

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2038337

2038:38

122

ce

FNL

cc

FNL

SEQ

cc

BR:

cc

PA

Ce.

PA

cc

PA

cc

PA

ce

ah right now the airport is open we’re not releasing any
departures until we make a decision on that okay

keep the arrivals that we’re holding coming in now

ah stand by let me call you right back

okay check

approach

tower

yeah are you holding everything or you gonna let them go

we we're not releasing anybody we're still holding
arrivals what would you like us to do

well we’re still doing a surface check right now wait to
see what they say but he definitely went in the hudson

that’s that is ah i’m pretty ah i’m ninety nine percent
sure because he ain’t here and we watched him low and
when he dropped off the radar near the intrepid we got a
report that they’re dispatching float ah floatation ah
rescue ah equipment

by (unintelligible) the intrepid

right right abeam the intrepid is where he went down and
ah the last report is he was still floating

he was still floating in the water

that’s the last report that i overheard in the tower cab

okay thank you

mike whiskey


N90-TRACON-0122
AWE1549

Page 6 of 11

2034:44 ec
2034:47 SEQ
2034:49 ce
2035

2035:05 SEQ
2035:09 cc
2035:10 SEQ
2035:12 Cc
2035:13 SEQ
2036

2036:07 SEQ
2036:08 cc
2036:10 SEQ
2036:11 cc
2036:20 SEQ
2036:21 cc
2037

2037:23 ENL
2037:25 cc
2037:26 FNL

do you recall the
reported it

ah let me talk to

call me back

yeah tower he was
he

five north of the

ah he said he was

thank you

okay

hey sequence ah

yes

position of the air strike or when he

the controller hang on

about five north of the airport when

airport altitude

out of four thousand feet

if you want to let departures go they’re released

alright well let me just ah okay okay we will ah we i
got your release we will let you know if we’re gonna
roll anybody right now okay

okay br

mike whiskey

sequencer approach

sequence

yeah ah what’s the status of the airport are we just
gonna run normal arrivals to the airport


N90-TRACON-0122
AWE1549

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2042:06 PA
2042:07 cc
2042:07 PA
2042:23 FNL
2042:27 cc
2042:37 ce
2042:40 TEB
2042:41 cc
2042:45 TEB
2042:46 cc
2042:50 TEB
2042:52 cc
2042:53 TEB
2042:55 cc
2043

2043:01 UNK
2043:02 cc
2043:07 UNK
2043:08 ce

okay

mike whiskey

okay

hey sequence i’m sorry coordinator final we’re gonna
start running them in slowly

okay mike whiskey

teterboro laguardia

teterboro

do you guys know what’s going on over in the hudson

ah airbus went down right

yeah i don’t know if you guys got any activity going
over that way ah

no they told us there was a t f r around it

i’m sorry

they told us there was a t f r around it

(unintelligible) give you a heads up thanks mike whiskey

are you the one that gave me the (unintelligible)

(unintelligible)

are you tango tango

i’m sorry


Federal Aviation
Administration

Memorandum

Date: February 02, 2009
To: Aircraft Accident File N90-TRACON-0122
From: LaGuardia Airport Traffic Control Tower

Subject: INFORMATION: Full Transcript
Aircraft Accident, AWE1549
New York, NY, January 15, 2009

This transcription covers the LaGuardia Airport Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) CC

Cc position for the time period from January 15, 2009, 2025 UTC, to January 15,
2009, 2058 UTC.

Agencies Making Transmissions Abbreviations
TRACON TMU TMU
LaGuardia ATCT Cab Coordinator ce

TRACON LGA Area Final Position FNL

TRACON LGA Area Sequencer Position SEQ

TRACON LGA Area Departure Position DEP

LGA Port Authority PA

Kennedy ATCT JFK
Teterboro ATCT TEB

Unknown UNK

I hereby certify that the following is a true transcription of the recorded
conversations pertaining to the subject aircraft accident involving AWE1549.

Daniel Lai

Staff Support Specialist
LaGuardia ATCT

2025

2026

2026:13 TMU hey laguardia tracont mu

2026:17 cc okay

2026:18 TMU um the wavey apregq is out until midnight zula

2026:21 cc okay laguardia got it


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2055:57

2055:58

2056:00

2057

2057:01

2057:03

2057:04

2057:07

2057:14

2057:15

2057:16

2057:17

2057:18
2058

PA

cc

PA

cc

DEP

DEP

cc

DEP

cc

DEP

cc

DEP

the plane’s still afloat

thank you so much

you welcomed bye

tower

hey how you doing

have we started departing again

ah we you guys released us we’re just gonna we we are
released for departure but we haven’t released any
departures yet

okay (unintelligible) is there a particular reason why
you're doing that

ican call you back with a reason okay

i certainly appreciate that

okay

bye

End of Transcript


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AWE1549

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2038:39

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2039

2039:01

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2040
2041
2041:39

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122

PA

cc

SEQ

cc

SEQ

ce

SEQ

cc

SEQ

ce

PA

Cc

PA

cc

PA

cc

thank you

hey sequence

yeah tower

listen ah we’re gonna continue to hold the arrivals port
authority’s gotta do surface checks on the airport
before we can really send the arrivals

okay we’ll hold all arrivals you get back to us

i’1ll call you as soon as they can

and you're not gonna depart anyone else (unintelligible)

we’re not departing anybody now mike whiskey

okay

hey port

yes tower

hi how you doing

hi

ah listen just to ah we’re just gonna let you know ah
and confirm with you that we’re gonna take arrivals to
runway three one you guys are done with your surface
check correct

yes ah let me call and i’ll call you right back

okay they’re gonna start running arrivals because we we
spoke to one of the vehicles on the tower frequency call
me back and confirm we can accept arrivals to runway
three one


N90-TRACON-O
AWE1549

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2030:18

2030:19

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2031

122

PA

cc

PA

cc

PA

cc

PA

ee:

JFK

cc

JFK

ce

JFK

cc

JFK

cc

a half north of the lincoln tunnel last sighted below
nine hundred feet we still got a target on him but he
looks like he’s low level

okay

okay

alright

good and that's cactus fifteen forty nine one five four
niner

one five four niner and what is what airline is that

ah it’s us air cactus

okay thanks

kennedy laguardia

kennedy

get me a police department helicopter have you got one
on your frequency

say again

get me a police department helicopter if you got one on
your frequency right now

we don’t have one right now but we we'll make a call

you get anybody you send them right into the lincoln
tunnel we had a cactus airbus go down in the water

got it okay

okay


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AWE1549

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2028:10

2028:13

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2028:49

2028:50

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2030:06

2030:09

cc

DEP

cc

DEP

cc

DEP

cc

DEP

cc

cc

DEP

ce

PA

cc.

PA

cc

yes go ahead

yeah the cactus fifteen forty nine that just departed ah
he

fifteen twenty nine or forty nine somebody else said
fifteen twenty nine

fifteen forty nine

okay fifteen forty nine i got it a bird strike he lost
his thrust in both both engines he’s returning
(unintelligible)

ah he wants to return immediately and au he wants to
land runway ah three one

got it landing runway three one

okay

okay

and runway four’s available if he needs it

okay runway four’s available thank you tower we'll get
back to you

tower

yeah tower bird strike which which airline

okay listen ah we're going to tell you something
important it's cactus fifteen forty nine we see somebody
low level in the hudson river below four hundred okay
you're gonna need to um alert the new york and new
jersey port authority police over there

new york and new jersey port authority police

okay he’s in the hudson river he’s just about a mile and


N90-TRACON-0122
AWE1549

Page 2 of 11

2026:22 TMU
2026:27 cc
2026:30 TMU
2026:31 cc
2026:32 TMU
2027

2027:29 ENL
2027:33 c¢
2027:36 FNL
2027:41 cc
2027:45 FNL
2027:50 SEQ
2027:54 cc
2027:57 SEQ
2027:59 cc
2028:01 SEQ
2028:04 cc
2028:09 DEP

and white i need five minutes in trail over white no
exclusion until midnight zulu

five minutes white no exclusion midnight z

yup

got it

thanks

coordinator final request

ah i didn’t call did you call me

yeah piedmont forty three sixty two overhead ah i’d like
to go overhead behind his company

piedmont forty three sixty two overhead okay that’s good
yeah you got it

alright thanks

tower stop your departures got an emergency returning

who is it

it’s (unintelligible) fifteen twenty nine he uh bird
strike he lost all engines he lost the thrust to the
engines he’s returning immediately

cactus fifteen twenty nine which engines

he lost thrust in both engines he said

got it

hey sequencer departure