I just wanted to take a second to mention Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III. I just watched a break-down of what happened on that flight that went down in New York. He saved all 155 people on the plane and God knows how many on the ground.
We were having the discussion at work - news talking heads were calling it a "miracle" That was NOT a miracle, it was the direct result of a pilot keeping his cool and relying on experience and training. Calling it a miracle takes away from "Sully's" accomplishment as a pilot - and savior to the passengers.
The only part that was a miracle was that they had an awesome pilot. Had it been a Southwest flight, the drunk pilot would of went nose first into some apartment complex.
And a round of Kudos for all the Agencies and commercial ferry companies involved in the rescue effort! I ran to the river 7-10 minutes after the plane was down, ferries were already keeping pace with the craft and city agencies (from both states on both sides of the river were already in place and coordinating strategies. As you watched some of the passengers unloaded at the 40th st pier, some wrapped in blankets, most not , all walking as calmly as if they had just come from the Hoboken terminal instead of the skies over the Bronx you would have almost thought it was an exercise and not an actual incident. Professionalism at it's finest from the first moment of this near tragedy to it's closing moments. A happy ending ? Who would of thought?
I think the miracle part of it is the fact that it was that no Ferry boats were in the path, the fact that it was him flying the plane and not some young hot-head Pilot but seasoned veteran pilot and co-pilot.
I think the miracle part of it is the fact that it was that no Ferry boats were in the path.
The flip side of that is he could not have landed in a better spot on the Hudson for aid to reach them as quick as it did, right in the heart of the commuter piers and Ferry lanes which also gave the emergency response units multiple locations to launch their effort from. Even a mile or two north might have made the outcome a little less happy. Truly a case of the best possible scenario. I think the lottery has more favorable odds!
I took that very same ferry over to the IMS the next morning. Damn, that water looked cold. I can't imagine being in that water in street clothes standing on the wing of a sinking airplane.
Actually the co-pilot is getting some traction around town. It sounds like at least one of the crew panicked but the pilot and co-pilot were cool as cucumbers.
I was joking that we should have a ticker tape parade and last night I'll be darned if Bloomberg wasn't on the tube talking about a motorcade through the Canyon of Heros for the Aviators, Crew and all the EMS and Ferry personnel. How about the Ferry Captain . . . a cute as a bug 20 year gal who's a full Captain and has "been on the water since I was a kid".
They could not have picked a better place to pull of this amazing feat.
In some ways I feel like 3,000 innocent lives were stolen here and I oddly felt like this event snatched 155 souls from nearly certain death.
Those of you who are pilots know that landing on water is . . . . well, darn near impossible. I recall, over Perry Reservoir, when my flight instructor cut the power and said "it's all yours". . . . I headed straight for the water. I'll never forget the lecture "concrete and water are equally hard, you just can't drown in concrete" . . in Kansas, where the entire state is pretty much a landing strip, heading for water is a poor choice.
It is almost always a poor choice unless you happen to be over America's most densely populated metropolis. This guy was good . . VERY GOOD.
My Cousin is a pilot with US Airways and flies an A320. He took off from the same airport earlier that morning. Yeah, Kristi called his wife.
It is truly amazing how much experience some of these pilots have. My cousin's neighbor is an American Airlines pilot. He is a retired Marine pilot and was recalled during the first Gulf war to train new Harrier pilots. During a training flight they had an engine failure and here was this fifty-something ejecting over the Atlantic. It was quite funny to hear him tell it.
Not enough words to describe what a great job the crew of the airliner and the ferries did that morning. Just warms to heart to hear stories like that.
...Not enough words to describe what a great job the crew of the airliner and the ferries did that morning. Just warms to heart to hear stories like that.
How could a flock of birds kill the engine??? these engines are specifically designed to take everything that is thrown at it. They have titanium-tiped carbon fiber inlet blades these days! Birds, Hail, & water have no change at killing these engines! ~Note~ they shot a chicken into that engine, notably larger than any normal bird
I've seen a better video on TV, but this one will do justice
I wrote a bunch of the software that was giving those results. Great memories, I miss the work.
The engines are designed to keep running long enough to let you try and save your ass before they totally self destruct. It would be like trying to build a motorcycle engine that could ingest anything through the intake... you can't make them strong enough and still have it be a usable motor.
How could a flock of birds kill the engine??? these engines are specifically designed to take everything that is thrown at it. They have titanium-tiped carbon fiber inlet blades these days! Birds, Hail, & water have no change at killing these engines! ~Note~ they shot a chicken into that engine, notably larger than any normal bird
One 5 1/2 pound OvenStuffer is quite different than a flock of 7-14 lb. geese with 4 1/2 to 6 ft. wing spans colliding with the aircraft during the heaviest operational stress load of it's flight. If a Hurricane can drive a strand of straw into a Oak Tree what chance does some processed metal foils spinning at 1,000's of RPMs stand when hit by a barrage of honking, pooping, self propelled "cannonballs" ?
I am aware that manufacturers are developing more and more bird resistant engines every year, but with the average service life of a commercial aircraft approaching 40 years in some markets it will be quite some time before birds get crossed off the commercial airline Bogey Man list.