Park Hyatt investor Carl Bazarian has been reunited with his belongings after surviving a plane crash into the Hudson River four months ago.

US Airways Flight 1549 was en route from LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte, North Carolina, on January 15 when it was forced to make an emergency landing into the icy river.

Shortly after taking off, at just 3,000 feet, a flock of Canada Geese hit the engines, causing them to lose power over the city of New York.

Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger III however, managed to guide the Airbus A320 into the Hudson River in one of the most remarkable emergency landings in US aviation history.

Following an evacuation of the jet, all 155 passengers and crew survived. They included Mr. Bazarian, whose Bazarian International group is to develop the new Park Hyatt resort at the former Club Med site.

Mr. Bazarian was one of several passengers interviewed by The New York Times yesterday after US Airways returned luggage and belongings salvaged from Flight 1549.

He told the newspaper his clothes had shrunk but he was most happy to get his car keys back, which have a remote device to unlock doors.

Perhaps reflecting on the passengers' lucky escape from the stricken jet, Mr. Bazarian told the newspaper: "I'm just happy my car keys worked."

The investment banker, from Amelia Island, Florida, said his laptop was returned in two pieces, with the hard drive soaking in deionized water in an attempt to salvage its data.

He added he still hoped to recover a "very expensive" leather jacket but that his clothes looked clean, albeit now so shrunken they could fit his nine-year-old grandson.