( CNN ) -- By many eyewitness accounts , when US Airways flight 1549 crashed into the Hudson River , it looked like a completely normal landing -- except it was in the water . iReporters captured the plane 's crash-landing and rescue operations . `` It looked like a perfectly smooth landing , nothing out of the ordinary , '' said Lou Romansky , who was stuck in traffic and saw the plane go down . `` No unusual noises , no flames , no nothing . It was very graceful ; [ I ] saw the nose go up . '' Josefina Echevarria happened to be standing near the window of her Manhattan office , and reports seeing a similar scene . `` I saw an airplane landing in the middle of the water , but very calm , '' she said . `` It was n't a nose dive , '' added Joe Harrington , who also saw the crash out his window . `` It looked like it was a landing . '' The plane , which carried more than 150 passengers and was bound for Charlotte , North Carolina , went down Thursday afternoon shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport . Officials say everyone on board apparently got off the plane alive . Some passengers were being treated for hypothermia and other minor injuries . And according to many iReporters , who described the situation to CNN as it unfolded , the rescue operation looked as smooth as the landing -- but , of course , just as scary . They say ferries arrived first on the scene , followed quickly by emergency boats and helicopters . `` Immediately there were ferries on the scene , '' said Harrington . `` Almost instantaneous . I watch these ferries all day -- they do n't normally go this fast . '' Police boats and helicopters arrived shortly after , he said . Julie Pukelis also saw the ferries arrive . `` It seemed very quick . ... Ferry boats out there within minutes , '' she said . `` I think it was a great team effort . '' iReport.com : `` We watched the plane drifting slowly down the water '' `` [ The rescue ] looked pretty well-organized from what I could see , '' said Jim Davidson , who lives two blocks from the Hudson River . `` It was n't chaos -- a lot of times when things like this happen , people are running around or yelling . '' iReport.com : A panorama of the rescue . Daniel Leal described the scene as the rescue operation continued into the evening . `` I 'm seeing flashing lights on the water from the many rescue vehicles -- tug boats , ferries , helicopters . ... There seems to be even more emergency crews in the water and hovering above than an hour ago , '' he said . iReport.com : Watching the rescue . iReporters said the plane began to sink shortly after landing until workers used ropes to secure it . `` A few minutes [ after the crash ] it started sinking in the water , '' said Echevarria . `` Five minutes later the airplane was completely sunk . You can only see the tail of the plane . '' Lisa Speransky , who also watched the situation from her office window , says workers appeared to tether the plane to boats to prevent it sinking . Watch how iReporters helped cover the story » . `` They must have gotten a rope around the plane at some point , because they were turning it around and dragging it towards New Jersey , '' she wrote in an email . After passengers were evacuated , workers eventually tethered the plane to a pier on the Hudson River . iReport.com : `` You could see people standing on the wing '' The crash brought up memories of the September 11 , 2001 , terrorist attacks for several iReporters as they saw the crash and its aftermath . Officials emphasize the crash had absolutely no terrorist connection and say it was likely a bird strike . `` I really thought it was a terrorist attack , '' said Romansky . He lives in New Jersey but was in Manhattan when the plane went down , and said his first thought after seeing the plane go down was to get back home , thinking that the state 's border might be closed in case of terrorism . iReport.com : `` I saw the plane coming down '' Matt Moore , who says he saw about 40 boats surrounding the plane in the water , had similar unnerving thoughts . `` What 's peculiar is I look to my left and there 's where the World Trade Center used to be and I look to my right and there 's a plane in the water , '' he said . iReport.com : Saw the rescue out the window . Harrington was also shaken up by the situation . `` It was surreal to see that happen , '' he said . `` I fly pretty much every week for work . ''
Eyewitnesses say the water landing looked like a regular plane landing . Rescue operation `` looked pretty well-organized , '' says iReporter Jim Davidson . iReporter Joe Harrington : " The pilot was able to land his aircraft safely and no injuries were reported by passengers or crew members on board. iReport.com : Did you see the crash landing , or were you on the plane ?