>> how long had you've been in the air? before the big east? >> 100 seconds. >> this is cactus 15 39. hit birds, we lost them both engines -- >> reporter: the powerless plane, and inflame, had an audience of alarmed new yorkers who flooded the emergency lines. >> i'm witnessing an airplane, it's going down -- >> where? where? >> i'm in the bronx, it's turning into the corridor -- >> reporter: in a hangar near jfk, nypd's elite scuba team took in the radio traffic pieced together the calls like a bread crumb trail. >> i want to point, the bronx to, you start to develop a picture, wherever it is, is turning west towards the hudson river. >> reporter: captain sully sullenberger was indeed eyeing the white and smooth rather. >> it turns out we did not have