The pilot is reported to have called "mayday flameout", from my inexperienced POV it looks like he traded speed for a little height to get over the highway and make it to the river. I hope the investigation shows lives were saved by pilot skill rather than lost by error, it looks like a great pilot in a bad situation to me.
From the latest news it seems that they had a flame out on one engine and shut down the other, there was an accident similar to this in UK, a tragedy all around.