Amazing; has anyone seen this yet on the news? Incredible story of good fortune...:)
Airplane Lands Safely In Hudson River
- Thread starter homeless mind
- Start date
Story with photos and video at link below. Great job by the pilots bringing this A320 in safe.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/plane_crash_lands_in_hudson_ri.html
Although I will say that I can't figure out how striking a single bird would disable both engines. Perhaps a flock of birds?
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/plane_crash_lands_in_hudson_ri.html
Although I will say that I can't figure out how striking a single bird would disable both engines. Perhaps a flock of birds?
number6horse
okyoutwopixiesoutyougo
Latest speculation indicates one or more flocks of birds entering BOTH engines. Scary shit but that flight crew knew their stuff, it appears.
That's what yahoo is now reporting.
Executing a water landing in a commercial airliner with no fatalities is generally considered to be damn close to impossible. There have only been a couple of cases in the last 60 years or so, and none in an aircraft of this size, to my knowledge.
So, yes; the flight crew knew their stuff indeed. Kudos to them.
Executing a water landing in a commercial airliner with no fatalities is generally considered to be damn close to impossible. There have only been a couple of cases in the last 60 years or so, and none in an aircraft of this size, to my knowledge.
So, yes; the flight crew knew their stuff indeed. Kudos to them.
number6horse
okyoutwopixiesoutyougo
An anonymous source involved in the investigation has told the Utica Observer Dispatch that the pilot was Chelsey B. Sullenberger III, 58 years old and a 29-year employee of US Airways.
Yeah, I'd say he has a shot at Employee-of-the-Month for January.
Yeah, I'd say he has a shot at Employee-of-the-Month for January.
mjp
Founding member
Andrew Jamison, a passenger on the plane that landed in the river said, "God was certainly looking out for all of us." What does that mean? If GOD landed the plane safely, why praise the pilot? If GOD landed the plane, didn't he also fly the birds into the engines? I'm confused.
bospress.net
www.bospress.net
You and me both....
If God can fly the plane so well, why even hire pilots? Why not just let them fly themselves...
Bill
If God can fly the plane so well, why even hire pilots? Why not just let them fly themselves...
Bill
I'm glad nobody died. But watching all these wet chickens on television, clucking away about this thing, it made me think of this poem by Buk:
Earthquake
from Mockingbird Wish Me Luck
Americans don't know what tragedy is---
a little 6.5 earthquake can set them to chattering
like monkeys---
a piece of chinaware broken,
the Union Rescue Mission falls down---
6 a.m.
they sit in their cars
they're all driving around---
where are they going?
a little excitement has broken into their
canned lives
stranger stands next to stranger
chattering gibberish fear
anxious fear
anxious laughter ...
my baby, my flowerpots, my ceiling
my bank account
this is just a tickler
a feather
and they can't bear it ...
suppose they bombed the city
as other cities have been bombed
not with an a-bomb
but with ordinary blockbusters
day after day,
every day
as has happened
in other cities of the world?
if the rest of the world could see you today
their laughter would bring the sun to its knees
and even the flowers would leap from the ground
like bulldogs
and chase you away to where you belong
wherever that is,
and who cares where it is
as long as it's somewhere away from
here.
Earthquake
from Mockingbird Wish Me Luck
Americans don't know what tragedy is---
a little 6.5 earthquake can set them to chattering
like monkeys---
a piece of chinaware broken,
the Union Rescue Mission falls down---
6 a.m.
they sit in their cars
they're all driving around---
where are they going?
a little excitement has broken into their
canned lives
stranger stands next to stranger
chattering gibberish fear
anxious fear
anxious laughter ...
my baby, my flowerpots, my ceiling
my bank account
this is just a tickler
a feather
and they can't bear it ...
suppose they bombed the city
as other cities have been bombed
not with an a-bomb
but with ordinary blockbusters
day after day,
every day
as has happened
in other cities of the world?
if the rest of the world could see you today
their laughter would bring the sun to its knees
and even the flowers would leap from the ground
like bulldogs
and chase you away to where you belong
wherever that is,
and who cares where it is
as long as it's somewhere away from
here.
I guess the only difference I see is that an earthquake is mother nature yawning, screaming, doing what she does. Proximity = victim. While an airplane crash (even with all survivors, thank Jah) is a manmade calamity "” even if the birds weren't genetically engineered. No plane, boarding passes, no crash. Just birds flying by, through the beautiful blue polluted air.
Last edited by a moderator:
LOL.
In the cold November rain, I've wondered how Chewy's parents taught it how to speak? And what Chewy's alphabet consisted of? Letters, or just groans and grunts?
In the cold November rain, I've wondered how Chewy's parents taught it how to speak? And what Chewy's alphabet consisted of? Letters, or just groans and grunts?
kudos for the pilot! that is the only person who deserves the credit...a raise
mjp
Founding member
I don't mean to be a dick (it just comes naturally), but the pilot shouldn't get an award for doing his job. He's supposed to land safely when there's an emergency.
But things have become so bad, and people are so inept, that we're amazed when someone actually does their job. Seriously. I watch This Old House on TV and I want to weep just because all those guys are competent. It looks beautiful, but they are just doing what they are supposed to do. But trying to find a contractor here in Los Angeles that knows which end of the hammer to hit the nail with is goddamn near impossible!
Sorry. Carry on. I was just being a brittle cunt.
But things have become so bad, and people are so inept, that we're amazed when someone actually does their job. Seriously. I watch This Old House on TV and I want to weep just because all those guys are competent. It looks beautiful, but they are just doing what they are supposed to do. But trying to find a contractor here in Los Angeles that knows which end of the hammer to hit the nail with is goddamn near impossible!
Sorry. Carry on. I was just being a brittle cunt.
While what you say is true in many applications, performing what he did is nothing short of brilliant. No miracles, no divine intervention; just a controlled descent into water that is considered to be one of the most demanding contingencies (i.e., really freaking rare big old fucking problem) ever conveyed upon a pilot.
Just sayin'. In this case, the pilot did his job better than many could, in my opinion.
But those ~150 people have no objectivity. And the media may, but they know better than to show it. It's been over-hyped for all of the wrong reasons. Typical shit. Too often the media hypes aircraft issues; this one is way beyond the issues that get hyped.
Bottom line is that a pilot not only did his job, but did it in one of the most demanding situations envisioned, and did it, by all accounts, perfectly. Not just a good job, but an above-board, we-don't-go-over-the-water-landing-more-than-once in scheduled pilot training kind of way. Not to mention with all engines out.
And not just the pilot; from all reports, the entire flight crew made it possible for all to be rescued despite the typical selfish elbows that humanity throws about when instinct kicks in.
Bottom line is that a pilot not only did his job, but did it in one of the most demanding situations envisioned, and did it, by all accounts, perfectly. Not just a good job, but an above-board, we-don't-go-over-the-water-landing-more-than-once in scheduled pilot training kind of way. Not to mention with all engines out.
And not just the pilot; from all reports, the entire flight crew made it possible for all to be rescued despite the typical selfish elbows that humanity throws about when instinct kicks in.
mjp
Founding member
Well, it was his job to keep those 150 people safe, that's all I'm saying.
No one knows how all of the other pilots in the world would do if they had to land a commercial jet in a river because they have never had to do it. Maybe they would all make the same landing. Or maybe 99% of them would. Maybe this guy was also very lucky. If the current was choppy and the plane had flipped on impact and the wings tore off, but everyone still survived, would they still be polishing a halo for him? You know, if he did everything exactly the same way he did yesterday, but the river reacted differently?
Maybe it's heroic for a pilot to go to work every day, but once you've made the decision to go into an extraordinary line of work, I think it's reasonable to expect extraordinary performance. If a firefighter rescues people from a burning building, isn't he doing his job? Yeah, it's a heroic and dangerous job sometimes, but that's why they don't let cowardly jerkoffs like me do it. "I don't know man, that fire looks bad. Think I'll sit this one out. Yell if you need me."
Maybe I'm an idiot, I never rule that out, but I'll bet that if/when they get to interview the pilot he'll say the same thing, that he was just doing his job, and they were all very lucky.
To me a hero is someone who does an extraordinary thing in the face of a crisis or tragedy when they could have just as easily stood by and done nothing. The people in that airplane on 9/11 who bum rushed the hijackers, knowing that the odds were they were all going to die in the process were heroes. I mean, they were all going to die anyway, they already knew that, but they could very easily have sat there and done nothing, and let those assholes fly the plane into the White House (which may not have been a bad thing actually, but unfortunately Bush wasn't there at the time).
Okay, now I've probably gone too far. Someone stop me before I alienate the last two people who don't already hate me...
No one knows how all of the other pilots in the world would do if they had to land a commercial jet in a river because they have never had to do it. Maybe they would all make the same landing. Or maybe 99% of them would. Maybe this guy was also very lucky. If the current was choppy and the plane had flipped on impact and the wings tore off, but everyone still survived, would they still be polishing a halo for him? You know, if he did everything exactly the same way he did yesterday, but the river reacted differently?
Maybe it's heroic for a pilot to go to work every day, but once you've made the decision to go into an extraordinary line of work, I think it's reasonable to expect extraordinary performance. If a firefighter rescues people from a burning building, isn't he doing his job? Yeah, it's a heroic and dangerous job sometimes, but that's why they don't let cowardly jerkoffs like me do it. "I don't know man, that fire looks bad. Think I'll sit this one out. Yell if you need me."
Maybe I'm an idiot, I never rule that out, but I'll bet that if/when they get to interview the pilot he'll say the same thing, that he was just doing his job, and they were all very lucky.
To me a hero is someone who does an extraordinary thing in the face of a crisis or tragedy when they could have just as easily stood by and done nothing. The people in that airplane on 9/11 who bum rushed the hijackers, knowing that the odds were they were all going to die in the process were heroes. I mean, they were all going to die anyway, they already knew that, but they could very easily have sat there and done nothing, and let those assholes fly the plane into the White House (which may not have been a bad thing actually, but unfortunately Bush wasn't there at the time).
Okay, now I've probably gone too far. Someone stop me before I alienate the last two people who don't already hate me...
bospress.net
www.bospress.net
His job to keep them safe in all reasonably foreseeable situations. That's what flight training is designed to do. 99% of pilots probably don't even go through these unlikely scenarios. All I'm saying (and you're not an idiot), is that this was not reasonably foreseeable as the FAA sees it.
Both engines out, 3,000 feet of potential energy, and limited training in such a scenario. Call it what you like; media be damned. I call it balls of steel.
You built your cross; why wouldn't you put yourself upon it?
mjp
Founding member
Fair enough. But what would a pilot with regular balls have done?
It's only a subject of conjecture.
I will say that the cold, calm weather played well into the needs of the pilot in command (not so good for the passengers on the wing, but hell, they made it). That makes it easier to bring a controlled decent into water. Keep in mind that he was dead-sticking (no engine power, no real control) a 160,000 lb glider into an urban river.
Your question should be posed to a group of pilots from US Airways, Delta, Northwest, Continental, American, AirTran, Southwest, and other carriers.
All I offer is my opinion, which is based on having been raised in a family with a Father who designed aircraft engine turbines (and loved to answer all of our questions) and a life-long interest in aircraft in general, including a long-term residency researching aircraft issues on airliners.net. Back when it had its shit together, that is.
I will say that the cold, calm weather played well into the needs of the pilot in command (not so good for the passengers on the wing, but hell, they made it). That makes it easier to bring a controlled decent into water. Keep in mind that he was dead-sticking (no engine power, no real control) a 160,000 lb glider into an urban river.
Your question should be posed to a group of pilots from US Airways, Delta, Northwest, Continental, American, AirTran, Southwest, and other carriers.
All I offer is my opinion, which is based on having been raised in a family with a Father who designed aircraft engine turbines (and loved to answer all of our questions) and a life-long interest in aircraft in general, including a long-term residency researching aircraft issues on airliners.net. Back when it had its shit together, that is.
Digney in Burnaby
donkeys live a long time
Suppose it comes under the heading of "right stuff", all that air jockey machismo. The guy had the years in, the experience with gliders and other types of aircraft. He had one shot to get it right and he did. Luck comes into it as well as knowledge from doing the job and caring about it. He also probably wanted to save his own ass. Most of us do.
A less experienced pilot might have tried the same approach and pulled it off exactly the same way. Who knows?
Some days, most days, I figure the bravest thing I do is get out bed to carry on with the daily bullshit.
landing a thin sheet of tinfoil going perhaps hundreds of miles per hour on a frigid splotch of narrow water surrounded by skyscrapers with plane engines afire and everyone surviving is a fucking miracle; and ranks right up there with the best piloting ever done in an in-extremis situation. balls of steel? it would certainly seem so. preservation of life? of course, including his own. a hero? depends upon one's definition. yes, in my lexicon. having been in dicey situations at the helm of a ship, from personal experience, i can tell you no simulator makes up for: get it right or die. this man did a helluva job. period.
Bukfan
"The law is wrong; I am right"
The Danish pilot Stefan Rasmussen, who himself landed an airliner on a field outside Stockholm, Sweden in 1991, after the engines set out (all 129 people aboard was saved), said on local TV today that the Hudson river landing was an amazing feat, because you have to glide just over the surface of the river at a speed not over about 200 kilometers per hour, before you attempt a landing, and that's not easy to get away with, nor is any pilot really prepared for such a landing.
Here's a bit about Rasmussen's crash landing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_G._Rasmussen
Here's a bit about Rasmussen's crash landing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_G._Rasmussen
Last edited by a moderator:
ROC
It is what it is
Perhaps we could agree that the pilot did his job... very, very well... some luck may have come into it... skill also... and that a medal (or some such), while more than a little crass under the circumstances, might represent the gratitude of the 150 passengers, the airline company and the home and business owners whose dwellings the plane did not destroy.
Also... official recognition of the pilots efforts (while doing the job he is paid to do) may have something to do with the USA's (in general) and New York city's (specifically) desire to locate/recognise/invent heroes while still recovering from the tragedies of 9/11.
Hell, when I heard the news, I just thought 'what great day to be alive for the passengers and crew!' Can you imagine what the rest of their day (and week) was like... walking around just thinking "I'm alive!"
Good luck to them :)
Also... official recognition of the pilots efforts (while doing the job he is paid to do) may have something to do with the USA's (in general) and New York city's (specifically) desire to locate/recognise/invent heroes while still recovering from the tragedies of 9/11.
Hell, when I heard the news, I just thought 'what great day to be alive for the passengers and crew!' Can you imagine what the rest of their day (and week) was like... walking around just thinking "I'm alive!"
Good luck to them :)
Black Swan
Abord the Yorikke!
Cheers! That pilot did his job very well with nerves of steel. Great! Everyone is alive.
Let's celebrate... Minutes after , he was sipping a coffee and had actually given the shirt off his back to someone who was cold.
I also agree that a hero who is actually saving lives is acting on impulse, saving life is what it is.
A reflection of your own , that you are about to lose .
Joseph Campbell describes 'the hero' better than anyone on a double dvd called 'The Power of Myth', 6 hours of discussions with Bill Moyers.
Procrastinator turned me on to that, thanks.
Let's celebrate... Minutes after , he was sipping a coffee and had actually given the shirt off his back to someone who was cold.
I also agree that a hero who is actually saving lives is acting on impulse, saving life is what it is.
A reflection of your own , that you are about to lose .
Joseph Campbell describes 'the hero' better than anyone on a double dvd called 'The Power of Myth', 6 hours of discussions with Bill Moyers.
Procrastinator turned me on to that, thanks.