He stated that no problem was evident with vibration, rate of acceleration, ambient noise, [or] directional control". However, The New York Times reported that "several passengers sensed that [the airplane] was not going fast enough." The first officer said it was "just like we lost lift." As the captain attempted to level the wings, the crew used right rudder to maneuver the aircraft back toward the ground and avoid the water below. The accident report found, "the first officer said that they seemed to agree that the airplane was not going to fly and that their control inputs were in unison." Rachuba and Majure continued to try to hold the nose up to impact in a flat attitude, although Rachuba later stated that they made no "heavy control inputs." The final report further noted, "first officer stated that he did not touch the power levers." The first officer later told investigators that the flight crew's primary focus was to find a safe place to land. Just under five seconds after the undercarriage left the ground, the plane's left wing scraped against the asphalt for , and the stick shaker activated. The crew received six stall warnings, before the jet began banking to the left, then to the right, and then to the left again, still only several meters above the ground. The aircraft struck two visual approach slope-indicator posts, touched down again for about , before lifting off again and striking an instrument landing system beacon and a water pump house. The left wing then separated from the body of the airplane, before the fuselage struck the edge of Flushing Bay and came to rest in a partially inverted position. Parts of the fuselage and cockpit were submerged in water. Confusion, disorientation, or entrapment most likely caused the drowning of passengers who otherwise sustained only minor injuries and injuries that were not life-threatening. The final report read: Prior to impact, passengers did not assume the brace position. When the airplane came to rest, many of the passengers in the forward portion of the cabin were upside down; others, who were upright, were submerged in water over their heads. Some passengers tried to move from their seats while their seatbelts were still buckled, and other passengers had difficulty locating and releasing their seatbelt buckles because of disorientation. Following the accident, passengers reported fires in the forward left and aft portions of