After hearing a loud bang, the pilots attempted to reject the takeoff, but were unable to stop the plane short of the end of the runway.

[1]: 5–6  The captain did not discuss emergency procedures such as rejected takeoffs with the first officer before the departure, despite the presence of weather conditions that included darkness, low visibility, and a wet runway.

[1]: 1  The bang was most likely due to air escaping from the left nose tire as it was pulled off its wheel, damaged by the captain's improper use of the nosewheel steering tiller.

[1]: 47  The captain took over control from the first officer and aborted the takeoff, but he was unable to stop the plane before it ran off the end of the runway into Bowery Bay.

The ditching line was unstowed from its right overwing exit opening but evacuees did not know it needed to be tied to the right wing fitting.

"[1] "Passengers who egressed at the two floor-level exits entered the water and because of the one-knot current some persons drifted away from the airplane and under the runway deck.

Several complained that waves from boats and downwash from a rescue helicopter hampered staying afloat with their heads out of the water.

Since power to the DFDR was off, while parked at the gate, the NTSB could not determine what caused the rudder trim to move to that extreme limit.

It was speculated that someone was sitting in the jumpseat (which is located directly behind the control pedestal) had rested their feet on it and inadvertently toggled the trim knob.

Subsequent to this event, all 737s were retrofitted with a rounded rudder trim knob – and a higher ridge around the aft section of the pedestal in an effort to prevent a similar occurrence.

The captain also failed to detect that the rudder pedals were unequally displaced by 4.25 inches (108 mm) and the nosewheel steering was turned to 4 degrees left, during the taxi out from the gate to the takeoff position on the runway.

Safety Recommendations addressing these issues were made to the Federal Aviation Administration and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The sequestering of the pilots for such an extended period of time in many respects borders on interference with a federal investigation and is inexcusable.

Local law-enforcement officials were attempting to track down rumors that the FO had told Port Authority police after the crash, that the captain had been "mumbling and acting irrationally just before takeoff."

[1] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Transportation Safety Board.