NEW YORK — Divers and sonar operators hunted for two missing engines from a US Airways jetliner in challenging, nearly impossible conditions as investigators made plans to carefully hoist the damaged plane from the water to retrieve the flight and data recorders.

The engines, lost when Flight 1549 splashed down after colliding with birds, were presumed to have been carried somewhere cold, dark and murky by the river's strong tides.

Exactly where, though, was a mystery. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers vessels and city police department boats were to resume the search today, probing the sediment of the river bottom along a 4 1/2 mile stretch from the point of impact to the southern tip of Manhattan.

Investigators also planned to conduct their first interview today with the pilot, Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, who glided the crippled aircraft into the river when he couldn't make a nearby airport, saving the lives of all 155 people aboard.

Authorities want to closely inspect the engines to figure out how exactly the birds caused the plane to fail so badly and so fast. They may also examine any feathers remaining in the engine to determine the type of bird species, helping prevent future mishaps.

Authorities said they planned to extract the aircraft today with a pair of big cranes and put it on a barge.

Experts said the wrecked engines could be tough to recover. They could be 30 to 50 feet down, obscured by the thick sediment. Conditions are so murky that police and fire department divers will have to feel about by hand.