USAir Flight 5050 was a passenger flight that crashed on takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York. As the plane took off from LaGuardia's runway 31, the plane drifted to the left. After hearing a loud bang, the pilots attempted to reject the takeoff, but were unable to stop the plane short of the end of the runway. The plane continued past the end of the runway and plunged into Bowery Bay. Two passengers were killed.
Wreckage of Flight 5050 in the Bowery Bay
A USAir 737-400, similar to the aircraft involved in the accident
LaGuardia Airport. The airplane overran runway 31 and entered Bowery Bay, seen at the bottom of the photo.
Rudder trim control (in red) and rudder trim position indicator (in yellow), on the rear of the center console, between the pilot seats of the B737-400. Note that the indicator needle is in the center of the gauge—the required position when pilots finish running the pre-start and pre-takeoff checklists
In aviation, a water landing is, in the broadest sense, an aircraft landing on a body of water. Seaplanes, such as floatplanes and flying boats, land on water as a normal operation. Ditching is a controlled emergency landing on the water surface in an aircraft not designed for the purpose, a very rare occurrence. Controlled flight into the surface and uncontrolled flight ending in a body of water are generally not considered water landings or ditching.
A Twin Otter float plane completing a water landing
The Apollo 15 capsule descends under two of three parachutes.
US Airways Flight 1549 ditched on the Hudson River in 2009 with all passengers surviving.
Ditching button on the overhead panel of an Airbus A330
