Passenger in hospital after Thames plane crash
3:35pm: All passengers and crew aboard US Airways plane crash in Thames earlier today are now ashore. @EssexPolice report that “one passenger taken to Queen’s Hospital, Romford with suspected heart attack”, after previous updates suggested passengers only sustained minor injuries. Other passengers are being transported home or back to London City Airport for onward journey.
2 passengers injured in Thames plane crash
3:25pm: Passengers from the US Airways plane crash on Thames are being brought to shore by RNLI, with all 42 passengers and 6 crew accounted for. @EssexPolice have confirmed “two passengers being treated for minor injuries”, with Essex ambulance service carrying out further medical checks. Purfleet Heritage & Military Centre have updated via Twitter, @PurfleetHMC, “we’re providing passengers with food and drinks after their ordeal, as well as phones and WiFi to contact relatives.” alongside a picture of passengers recovering at the Heritage & Military Centre. “Can’t believe everyone got out alive.”
Passenger on Thames plane tweets from wing
3:10pm: An unverified Twitter account has shared a viral tweet claiming to be a passenger on flight US132, which crashed into the Thames near Essex at 2:30pm today. Nadine Johnson, @nadine63287412, shares “did not expect to be spending my birthday standing on the wing of a plane in the middle of the Thames. The pilot is a total legend for getting us down in one piece”. The tweet was accompanied by a picture of the banks of Rainham Marshes nature reserve, seemingly taken while still on the wing of the aircraft.
Essex police and RNLI arrive to evacuate Thames plane
3:00pm: Police officers “now on scene of #Thamesplane”, say @EssexPolice via Twitter. RNLI lifeboats are also in attendance to assist passengers onto wings and into life rafts. The US Airways aircraft landed 100 metres offshore at Purfleet RSPB Reserve after an engine failure after taking off from London City Airport.
Plane crashed on Thames suffered engine failure
2:50pm: London City Airport has confirmed via Twitter @LondonCityAirprt that flight US132, a US Airways plane which crashed into the Thames near Rainham at 2:30pm today, had suffered an engine failure with “no power to return to LCY so planned to ditch in water.” Radar contact was lost at 2:31pm after the flight had taken off at London City Airport, en route to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
Emergency services arrive at plane crash on Thames
2:40pm: The London Fire Service has verified via Twitter that emergency services are “attending plane crash on Thames near Rainham”, according to @lfsofficial, the official London Fire Service Twitter account. Thames river police and RNLI are also en route to the scene, with supporting units coming from Essex and Kent.
US Airways plane lands on Thames
At 2:30pm today, an unverified source, @thamestweets on Twitter, shared “a plane has just landed on the Thames near Rainham Marshes”. This was accompanied by an image of a US Airways plane sinking into the river in East London, with passengers seen disembarking the aircraft.