Second Engine Lifted From Riverbed Friday

A seemingly unavoidable incident. A thoroughly successful outcome. One hundred fifty-five lives saved by the combination of skill, professionalism and flat-out luck. The lack of a readily-apparent scapegoat.

All those factors combined in the matter of US Airways Flight 1549 may result in one of the least litigious airline accidents in years, legal experts say.

Despite early rumblings from one New York-based law firm in the hours following the January 15 ditching of the Airbus A320 in the Hudson River, so far not a single lawsuit has been filed related to the case. That's not to say we won't eventually see any lawsuits stemming from the accident... though it appears increasingly probable that if anyone's sued over the incident, it won't be due to any negligence on the part of US Airways.

Justin Green, an attorney with Kreindler & Kreindler, tells The Associated Press that Flight 1549 may be an example of "the rarest case where the accident is just an act of God." The national law firm is a familiar litigant in aviation-relation legal cases.

Chicago lawyer David Rapoport wouldn't go so far as Green, however. He notes passengers who experience later emotional ramifications from their ordeal may sue, particularly if investigators find evidence of catastrophic engine failure... or, that Captain Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger and co-pilot Jeff Skiles may have been able to avoid the large flock of geese many believe led to the incident.

"I fundamentally do not believe in a pure act of God air crash," said Rapoport. "I have never found one yet ... and when all the data is all in here, my suspicion is that this won't be one, either."

So far, however, the cards appear stacked against that point of view... as findings to date seemingly support early reports the A320 struck an unusually large flock of birds minutes after takeoff from New York LaGuardia (LGA), knocking out both of the plane's CFM56 turbofans. While such catastrophic bird strike incidents are extremely uncommon, there is precedent.

A report last week one of the plane's turbofans suffered an apparent compressor stall days before the Hudson River incident has also piqued the interest of the National Transportation Safety Board. At this stage, however, it seems unlikely that engine -- the first one recovered by investigators, who found organic matter consistent with a deceased bird wedged in the turbine vanes -- suffered any mechanical problem not related to an inadvertent collision with a goose.

Investigators hope the plane's second turbofan -- which was successfully recovered Friday off the floor of the Hudson -- will shed additional light on the matter.

If a bird strike is determined to be the probable culprit of the downing of Flight 1549, law experts say it's possible the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey could be party to an eventual lawsuit questioning the effectiveness of measures intended to drive away waterfowl from the area.

Those efforts are stymied by the proximity of LGA and other New York airports to a nearby bird sanctuary... which raises more eyebrows.

(Photo by Gregory Lam)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov, www.usairways.com