VOA标准英语2009年-No Fatalities Reported in NYC Hudson River Plan

A U.S. passenger jet crash-landed in New York City's Hudson River on Thursday with 155 passengers and crew onboard. But tragedy was averted¹ when ferries and tourist boats came to the aid of the sinking plane and everyone was evacuated².
　
Tail fin³ of Airbus A-320 US Airways⁴ aircraft that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York City, 15 Jan 2009

U.S. Airways Flight 1549 had just taken off from LaGuardia airport on Thursday afternoon bound for Charlotte, North Carolina when it went down in the frigid⁵ waters of the Hudson River.

Officials said the Airbus A-320 may have been hit by birds, disabling one or both of its engines.

Several tourist boats and ferries quickly came to the aid of the downed jet, rescuing stranded⁶ passengers who had managed to get out onto the wings of the aircraft. U.S. Coast Guard ships and helicopters also responded.

No deaths or serious injuries have been reported.

Jeff Kolodjay, a rescued passenger from Norwalk, Connecticut was headed to North Carolina on a golf trip when the plane went down.

"The engine blew out about three minutes into the flight," he said. "We circled around and saw we were in line with the Hudson [River]. The captain came on [the plane's public address system] and said, 'Look, we're going down, brace⁷ for impact.' And everyone kind of looked at each other and said some prayers. I said about five 'Our Fathers' and five 'Hail Marys' and we hit the water."

U.S. Airways Chairman Doug Parker said preliminary information indicates that everyone is off the plane and accounted for and that the airline would cooperate with authorities in their investigation⁸.

"It is premature⁹ to speculate about the cause of this accident," he said. "The National Transportation Safety Board will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the probable cause with our complete support and the support of many others."

Federal Aviation Authorities say they are looking to retrieve¹⁰ the plane's "black box" recorder for more information on the cause of the crash.

1 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

2 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

3 fin   

n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼

参考例句：

• They swim using a small fin on their back.它们用背上的小鳍游动。
• The aircraft has a long tail fin.那架飞机有一个长长的尾翼。

4 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

5 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

6 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

7 brace   

n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备

参考例句：

• My daughter has to wear a brace on her teeth. 我的女儿得戴牙套以矫正牙齿。
• You had better brace yourself for some bad news. 有些坏消息,你最好做好准备。

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

10 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。