<P> The NTSB concluded its investigation on May 4, 2010, identifying the probable cause as "the ingestion of large birds into each engine, which resulted in an almost total loss of thrust in both engines ." The final report credited the outcome to four factors: good decision - making and teamwork by the cockpit crew (including decisions to immediately turn on the APU and to ditch in the Hudson); the fact that the A320 is certified for extended overwater operation (and hence carried life vests and additional raft / slides) even though not required for that route; the performance of the flight crew during the evacuation; and the proximity of working vessels to the ditching site . Contributing factors were good visibility and a fast response from the ferry operators and emergency responders . The report also makes a range of recommendations to improve safety in such situations . </P> <P> Author and pilot William Langewiesche asserted that insufficient credit was given to the A320's fly - by - wire design, by which the pilot uses a side - stick to make control inputs to the flight control computers . The computers then impose adjustments and limits of their own to keep the plane stable, which the pilot cannot override even in an emergency . This design allowed the pilots of Flight 1549 to concentrate on engine restart and deciding the course, without the burden of manually adjusting the glidepath to reduce the plane's rate of descent . Sullenberger said that these computer - imposed limits also prevented him from achieving the optimum landing flare for the ditching, which would have softened the impact . </P> <P> In 2010, the damaged plane (excluding its engines) was acquired for the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, which held a reception on June 11 to commemorate the arrival in Charlotte of the plane's body, with Sullenberger as keynote speaker and the passengers invited . </P> <P>--Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators citation </P>

What happened to the plane in the hudson