US plane crashes, all passengers safe:

A US Airways Airbus 320 carrying 148 passengers and six crew on a domestic flight crashed into Hudson River off Westside Manhattan minutes after it took off on Friday but all aboard were rescued.

Rescue workers and passenger ferries reached the scene within minutes. Passengers shivered in minus six degrees Celsius cold as they were plucked from wings and water. All were wearing life jackets and some had wrapped themselves in blankets.

First report said that the pilot reported double bird hit but it was not clear whether he was talking about two birds being sucked into one engine or one each in two engines.

The passengers said that the pilot had declared an emergency and had asked them to "prepare for impact" just before the plane struck water.

The plane had taken off from LaGuardia Airport in New York and some reports said the pilot was trying to take the plane to another smaller airport when it crashed.