A dramatic rescue is underway as a U.S. Airways jet, departing from LaGuardia Airport bound for Charlotte, North Carolina, crashed into the Hudson River just a few hundred yards from the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan. 

The plane went down in the freezing water at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday. The pilot radioed that the plane was struck by a bird or a flock of geese and lost power in two engines. The aircraft came down in the Hudson River off 48th Street just four minutes after take-off.

INSIDE EDITION Senior Investigative Producer Bob Read saw the stricken plane pass his office window. Describing the dramatic scene, he says, "I saw the plane just slowly landing like it was a landing strip. It was in the water just floating along. It looked like a very controlled landing like this was a wide runway."

Passengers quickly scrambled out onto the plane's wings as ferry boats and helicopters rushed to save them. With the day's cold temperatures dropping as the sun continued to set, passengers were treated for exposure and other injuries.

UPDATE 1/15/09 4:55 p.m.: The Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed to CBS News that all 146 passengers and 5 crew members were safely evacuated.