Plane Crashes into Icy Waters of the Hudson River After Takeoff (Video)

A routine flight turned into a life-or-death struggle Monday night when a small plane went down in the freezing Hudson River — forcing its pilot and lone passenger to claw their way out of the wreckage and swim to shore in the dark.

The single-engine Cessna 172 had just departed from Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma when something went wrong, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Within minutes, the aircraft was attempting an emergency landing. It never made it back to solid ground.

Instead, the plane splashed down in the frigid waters off Newburgh, about 60 miles north of Manhattan.

For several tense minutes, first responders didn’t even know where the aircraft was.

“We were dispatched to a reported crash site, but initially we couldn’t locate the plane,” the Middle Hope Fire Department said in a statement. “It was later spotted in the river.”

By the time rescuers arrived, the pilot and passenger had already escaped the sinking aircraft and made it to shore on their own. Authorities say both were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. Their identities have not been released.

Water temperatures in the Hudson this time of year hover near freezing — cold enough to trigger hypothermia in minutes. Survival experts say sudden immersion in icy water can cause shock, rapid breathing, and loss of muscle control.

That makes their survival all the more remarkable.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul praised the rescue effort, calling it “another miracle on the Hudson” — an unmistakable nod to the dramatic 2009 emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549.

In that now-legendary incident, Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger safely ditched an Airbus A320 into the Hudson after a bird strike disabled both engines shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport. All 155 people on board survived, and the event became a symbol of calm under pressure.

Monday’s crash was far smaller in scale — but no less terrifying for the two people inside the cockpit.

The FAA is investigating what triggered the emergency. Mechanical failure, weather conditions, and pilot communication will all be reviewed as part of the probe.

For now, two people are alive who easily could have become another tragedy on the Hudson.

Instead, they walked away from icy waters that have claimed far less forgiving victims in the past.