Investigators have found a "single feather" attached to the flap structure on the wing of the downed US Airways plane, a spokesman for the investigative agency said Thursday according to dpa. The evidence, along with organic matter found in the right engine, the wings and the fuselage, lends support to the theory that a flock of birds caused the accident. All 155 passengers and crew on board survived the emergency landing that is being called a "miracle" helped by a very skillful pilot. The pilot has reported that a flock of geese hit the windshield shortly before the aircraft started losing power. Investigation of the right engine, which remained attached to the plane as it floated on New York City's Hudson River last Thursday, yielded up the first clues about the accident, according to a press statement from the National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday. The single feather "was being sent to bird identification experts at the Smithsonian" Institution in Washington, the NTSB said. The organic material would be examined by the US Department of Agriculture. The missing left wing engine was finally found Wednesday in about 20 metres river depth not far from the landing spot, and has not yet been studied. Over the weekend, the fuselage of the plane was salvaged and loaded on a large truck for transport to the laboratories of the safety investigators. The NTSB said that passengers' checked and carry-on baggage was being removed from the aircraft and would be returned to them. The agency also confirmed that two days before the accident, the right engine of the plane had experienced problems during a flight. It was investigating the maintenance steps taken, which included replacing a temperature probe in the engine.
