Investigators said Friday that the plane that made a daring emergency landing on the Hudson River Thursday was missing both of its engines.

Rescuers noticed that the plane was missing its left engine as it was brought down to Battery Park Thursday night. Subsequently, the other engine became detached, according to Kitty Higgins of the National Transportation Safety Board.

See photos of the incident taken by NY1 viewers.

Divers were combing the Hudson with sonar and radar to locate the engines and the black box, in the hope of determining the precise moment that two birds collided with passenger jet. The extremely cold weather and water currents limited the divers' search.

A giant crane has been brought in and officials hope to remove the plane from the water off Battery Park on Saturday.

The plane's two data recorders will be sent to Washington, D.C., where the Department of Agriculture and other agencies will determine whether a double bird strike was the official cause of the plane's fall.

Members of the Coast Guard continued to watch over the wreckage after they helped rescue passengers Thursday.

Members of the flight crew were interviewed Friday and investigators plan to speak with the pilots and airport controllers.

“Once the recorders are removed, we will document the damage to the plane and obviously some damage we can see already,” said Higgins. “But there’s a lot of damage that’s not visible at this point and we will want to do that once the plane is on the barge and secured. And then we will move the aircraft to a secure location for further investigation.”

The pilot smoothly landed the Charlotte-bound Flight 1549 on the Hudson River at around 45th Street several minutes after it took off from LaGuardia Airport at 3:26 p.m. Thursday. All 155 people aboard were brought to safety.

Twenty-nine year veteran pilot Chesley Sullenberger is being praised by passengers and industry experts for his textbook emergency landing.

An Associated Press source says that air-traffic controllers tried to pave the way for emergency landings at two airports. Both times the pilot signaled that he was "unable" and told the controllers he was landing in the river instead.

Earlier Friday, a representative from the National Transportation Safety Board said investigators are looking into the report that a flock of birds slammed into the engines of the Airbus A320.

"We've heard that report and we will investigate that along with everything else," said Kitty Higgins of the NTSB. "And we're going to interview the crew, hopefully today, both the pilots and the cabin crews, talk to air traffic control, and get any other eye witness account and video that might exist. We'll look at the radar data, get the black boxes, and begin the salvage effort on the plane."

Sullenberg, a 57-year-old former Air Force fighter pilot, was described by his wife as a "pilot's pilot" in an interview Friday.

President-elect Barack Obama also called Sullenberg Friday evening and in a five-minute phone call said how proud everyone was for the heroic and graceful job the pilot had done. Obama also thanked the plane's crew for ensuring the safety of everyone on board the plane.

Meanwhile, Mayor Michael Bloomberg held a news conference Friday morning to praise the police, fire, and emergency response crews that aided in the response to the successful landing.

Police and fire rescue crews and their Marine units were honored with certificates from the city, along with EMS and Port Authority workers.

Bloomberg also offered up a key to the city, pictured above, to the pilot, co-pilot, and crew of the Charlotte-bound plane for their "grace under pressure."

"Just yesterday in my State of the City speech, I talked about the indomitable spirit of our city," said the mayor. "And I said no matter how bad things get, New Yorkers can get through anything, as long as they work together. And almost immediately after I finished the speech, I think we proved that once again."

Sullenberg was not at the mayor's event, since he was interviewed by NTSB investigators.

Passengers are praising the pilot, the crew, and the quick-thinking ferry operators, the first of which arrived within seconds of the crash-landing.

"It was more quiet than anything else," passenger Alberto Panero told CNN's Larry King. "People kind of burst into tears and a little bit of prayers it seems like. But for the most part to me, it felt like it kind of became very silent and a kind of fear, tension took over the plane."

Senator Charles Schumer introduced Friday a Senate resolution which officially honored Sullenberg and the emergency workers who rescued his passengers. The resolution, which passed unanimously, praised the "quick thinking, remarkable poise and extraordinary acts of heroism" that went into the landing and rescue effort.

At Friday morning's news conference, the mayor also presented the operators and captains of New York Waterway with certificates for their efforts.

"A lot of things went right yesterday, not only with how the crew functioned, but how the plane functioned," said Kitty Higgins of the NTSB.

Medical experts say that if the passengers had been submerged in the water for two to three more minutes they could have suffered extreme hypothermia with lethal consequences.

Officials say the Coast Guard rescued 35 people with a fleet of boats and helicopters. The vessels came from as far away as Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

One boat pilot says his crew was on the scene about 11 minutes after the crash and saved the last seven people in the water.

"I was pretty pumped up. And I was pretty happy that I could be a part of this situation and help the people get out of the water as fast and as safe as possible," said Von Rankin of the Coast Guard. "It felt kind of good, pretty good."

After the rescue, Coast Guard crews worked into the night to salvage debris.

US Airways Chief Executive Doug Parker expressed his appreciation, calling the response simply amazing.

"Yesterday's event unfolded in a matter of minutes, determining exactly what happened will take much longer than that," Parker said. "The NTSB is here and taking the lead on this investigation and we at US airways will continue to do everything we can to assist them in that effort. In the meantime our continued focus and support will be on our passengers, their families, and our very brave crew."

Scores of lottery players tried to play the flight's number, "1-5-4-9" as a lottery ticket Thursday. But within a half-hour of the crash, lottery officials cut off that number for the Win 4 games.

The lottery typically stops selling a combination of numbers if it would have to pay out $5 million or more to all the winners. Officials could not give an estimate of how many people bought the number.

Meanwhile, many if Flight 1549's passengers took flights out of LaGuardia Airport on Friday. Before they took off, they shared with NY1 that they were experiencing some concerns about boarding another plane.

"There will be a little bit of anxiety," said passenger Craig Black. "But I think once I get passed the Hudson, I think I'll be fine. I fly a lot for a living and I have to travel, so that's what I'll do."

"I think this was the golden baby. If I survived this one, it'll never happen again," said passenger Bill Wiley.

"I don't want to hear any bumps," said passenger Laurie Crane. "Before I heard the thud, and now I don't want to hear the thud."

Hospitals in the city and across the river in New Jersey Thursday were bracing for the worst upon hearing that a plane went down. But only a few dozen passengers were hospitalized.

No life-threatening injuries were reported.

Injuries ranged from hypothermia to cuts and bruises.

Most of the passengers were treated using blankets and hot soup. Nearly all those who were hospitalized were released by Friday.