The pilot of a passenger airliner that landed in the Hudson River was calm and collected as he spoke to air traffic controllers, informing them his engines were blown and he wasn't going to reach a runway.

US Airways Flight 1549 lost power in both engines shortly after departing from New York City's LaGuardia Airport on Jan. 15.

Pilot Chesley Sullenberger told controllers the Airbus A320 had struck a flock of birds, according to transcripts and tapes released Thursday by the Federal Aviation Administration.

"We lost thrust in both engines. We're turning back towards LaGuardia," he told an air traffic controller.

The controller then attempts to arrange a landing strip for the plane to use, ordering all departures from the busy hub to stop.

But Sullenberger responds calmly, signalling the plane won't make it back to the airport.

"We're unable. We may end up in the Hudson."

Then, powerless and virtually gliding, he briefly considers trying to land at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.

The controller arranges for the landing, but Sullenberger soon realizes that's not an option either.

"We can't do it," he says after receiving navigational instructions.

"Okay, which runway would you like at Teterboro," the controller responds.

"We're gonna be in the Hudson," Sullenberger says.

The controller asks the pilot to repeat the message, but it never comes.

Sullenberger put the plane down in the river, later telling FAA investigators he chose to land in the river rather than risk crashing in a densely populated part of the city.

All 155 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft survived.

Sullenberger has been honoured with an invitation to the inauguration of President Barack Obama, as well as at the Super Bowl, where he and the rest of the plane's crew were brought onto the field to thundering applause.