Passenger, wet, freezing, named Jeff, locked in by reporters on a New York pier, reported:

The take-off seemed normal for the first three minutes, then there was a load boom, he felt the plane lurch and level out from its climb, he could see flames coming out of one engine. The pilot informed everyone they were trying to return to LaGuardia. The plane’s turn would line them up with the generally north-south runway. As the turn got the plane lined up with the Hudson River, the pilot told everyone to brace for impact. The plane hit hard, but at a slight angle. The plane was in one piece and floating. The back of the plane began to fill with water. The passengers were able to get out and onto 5 life rafts. For the most part women and children and the injured were helped out first. The life rafts began to sink [overloaded? not inflated correctly?]. By that time some ferries and other boats had arrived and helped people out of the water.

Finally one reporter noticed the man was freezing but probably didn’t know it from adrenaline and shock, gave him his coat and helped muscle him out of the crowd of reporters to somewhere warm.