Crash Landing In The Hudson River

[mirimark]

This is a happy story. When I first heard of it, and found that all where alive, It put me in a good mood for days.

GREAT JOB FLIGHT CREW !

[ramboz]

These two brought down the plane.

DANNO

[daveduke007]

[allstar88]

nice one ramboz

[Lefty]

Here is some interesting info in regards to 1549 that was sent to me by my good friend Ramboz.
I'm curious to know if the Airbus vs Boeing comparisons are true. I hope Thick81 reads this and will comment.

This was from an AA pilot.
>
>
> The following is an exclusive account for our members from one of our
> pilots who was onboard US Airways Flight 1549 when the pilots made a
> successful emergency ditching into New York's Hudson River. First Officer
> Susan O'Donnell is a LGA-based 767 pilot. She resides with her family in
> Winnsboro, South Carolina. Susan is a former Navy pilot, hired at AA in
> February 1990. She has flown the 727, F100, A300 and now the 767.
>
> The following is her account of the flight, the rescue and recovery
> response, as well as the support she experienced afterward. This is
> intended to give each of you a unique insight into the event. We also hope
> that the crew's tremendous effort to take care of each other and the
> nearly instantaneous support of USAPA and APA responders become
> "takeaways" for our pilots to use when faced with an emergency.
>
> I was a jumpseat rider seated in First Class on Flight 1549 from LGA to
> CLT, which successfully ditched in the Hudson River. I've been asked to
> share a few of my experiences on that day. Although it was a stressful
> incident, the successful outcome and the assistance and support I received
> afterwards have been truly humbling and inspirational.
>
> After introducing myself to and being welcomed aboard by Captain
> Sullenberger and FO Skiles, I was offered seat 3D, an aisle seat in the
> last row of First Class. I was in my uniform. Another jumpseat rider took
> a seat in row 6. These were the last empty seats on the airplane. I wasn't
> paying much attention to the flight until, climbing out, there were
> several loud thumps occurring roughly simultaneously along both sides of
> the aircraft. "Bird strikes", I thought. A few seconds later, there was a
> bit of smoke and the stench of burning bird that seemed to confirm my
> guess. There was a turn to the left, and I assumed we were returning to
> LGA.
>
> The passengers were concerned but calm. I couldn't see any part of the
> aircraft out the window from my aisle seat. Although I didn't hear much
> that sounded encouraging from the engines, I expected we would have at
> least partial thrust with which to limp back to LGA. We rolled out of the
> turn, and I could tell we were not maintaining altitude. Then we heard the
> PA: "This is the Captain. Brace for impact."
>
> Obviously we weren't returning to LGA, and I could see enough out the
> window to realize we'd be landing in the river. The flight attendants
> began shouting their "brace" litanies and kept it up until touchdown. The
> descent seemed very controlled, and the sink rate reasonably low. I
> believed the impact would be violent but survivable, although I did
> consider the alternative. The passengers remained calm and almost
> completely quiet. As we approached the water, I braced by folding my arms
> against the seat back in front of me, then putting my head against my
> arms. There was a brief hard jolt, a rapid decel and we were stopped. It
> was much milder than I had anticipated. If the jolt had been turbulence, I
> would have described it as moderate. Thinking about it later on, I
> realized it was no worse than a carrier landing.
>
> After landing, the attitude of the aircraft was slightly nose high, but
> not far off a normal parked attitude, and there was no obvious damage to
> the cabin or water intrusion where I was. No one was hurt or panicked. We
> all stood up. I could hear the doors open and the sound of slide
> inflation. There was a verbal command "Evacuate"; people were already
> moving towards the doors. I exited through the forward right door and
> entered the raft. The evacuation up front was orderly and swift, and we
> were not in the water long before being picked up by various boats, which
> were extremely quick to the scene. Many passengers were standing on the
> wing, going from feet dry to nearly waist deep as the rescue progressed.
> They were of course the first to be picked up by the arriving boats. I was
> picked up by a large ferry boat, climbing a ladder hanging from the bow.
> It didn't take long to get all passengers into the boats and to the ferry
> terminals.
>
> Once at the terminal, we were met by police, firemen, paramedics, FBI,
> Homeland Security, the Red Cross, Mayor Bloomberg, and more. Captain
> Sullenberger continued in a leadership role in the aftermath, talking with
> the passengers, assembling his crew and including myself and the other
> jumpseat rider as members of his crew. I was impressed to note that he had
> the aircraft logbook tucked under his arm. When the Captain asked me if I
> wanted to join the crew at the hotel, I told him I would really appreciate
> it as I had lost my wallet. He immediately pulled out his wallet and gave
> me $20. His concern for me when he had so much else to worry about was
> amazing.
>
> The USAPA representative was on the scene very quickly, and again included
> the other jumpseat rider and myself with the rest of the crew. I didn't
> see a flight attendant representative; USAPA took care of the FAs as well.
> The USAPA representative escorted the entire crew to the hospital (we rode
> in a NYFD fire truck), where we were joined by other USAPA reps and the
> USAPA lawyer, all of whom continued to consider me as one of the crew. At
> the hospital, I had finally called the APA "in case of accident" number on
> the back of my ID badge for APA. I had not initially thought of that as
> applying to my situation, as a jumpseater on another airline, but I called
> anyway. I spoke with APA LGA Vice Chairman Captain Glenn Schafer, who
> departed immediately to come assist me.
>
> After a routine evaluation, they transported us by police car to a hotel,
> where rooms were waiting. The USAPA version of our Flight Assist was also
> there, and they spoke to me and offered me whatever assistance I needed,
> again as if I was one of their own. The USAPA reps also brought all of us
> some clothing and toiletries that they had purchased. Captain Schafer
> arrived at the hotel, bringing me some necessary items. He stayed
> overnight at the hotel, making flight arrangements for me to go home the
> next day and escorting me to the airport. Captain Mark Cronin from the AA
> NY Flight Office met me at the departure gate, again offering assistance
> and support.
>
> I am grateful for the many calls of concern and offers of help I have
> received, from fellow pilots, union representatives and the company, and I
> am grateful for and proud of the response and assistance of both USAPA and
> APA. I would hope that our union would treat another airline's crewmember
> as kindly as I was treated. USAirways has also been superb, treating me as
> if I was a paying passenger. I am also thankful for the professionalism
> and capabilities of Captain Sullenberger, FO Skiles and FAs Dent, Dail and
> Welsh. They certainly did our profession proud, and they saved my life.
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> I got this from Bill H.
> kf
>
>
> E-mail from a buddy of mine, ex Navy A-3 pilot and retired SouthWest
> Airlines pilot.
> Bill
>
>
> Hello all:
>
> The press is having a field day turning "Sully" Sullenberger into a
> Lindbergh-like hero. I attended his welcoming home reception in Danville,
> CA last weekend... me and the estimated 3000 other attendees. All credit
> is given to him and his crew, but they will be the first to tell you,
> "they just did their jobs." They did them well, but when your job entails
> holding the lives of hundreds of people in your hands every time you fly,
> then doing your job well is the minimum acceptable standard.
>
> I don't, and I doubt if more than just a handful of other pilots, begrudge
> Sully his day in the sun. What I am concerned about is how the real cause
> of this accident is being glossed over and, on the part of Airbus
> Industries, actually lied about. There are stories circulating now about
> how the flight computers helped "save" the aircraft by insuring the
> ditching was done properly. The stories themselves are absolute nonsense
> and the contention that the flight computers ensured the proper attitude
> was maintained for ditching is pure fabrication.
>
> So what's wrong with Airbus wanting to steal a little glory for their
> computerized drones? There is a good chance it was the computers that put
> the aircraft into the water!
>
> I readily admit I heartily dislike Airbus because of their design
> philosophy, I will never set foot in an A-380 (the superjumbo) as I
> consider it a really bad accident looking for a place to happen. I am not
> much happier with the rest of them but especially the A-320 which has
> killed several folks, while the engineers try to perfect software that can
> replace a human brain that has a talent for flying... something that I,
> rather naturally, don't believe possible.
>
> It is well known that I love Boeings. I love to fly them. Beyond the sheer
> joy of just flying the Boeing, I also believe in their design philosophy
> that the last word has to be with the pilot, not the machine. No pilot,
> no matter how hard he tries, can turn an A-320 upside down. It just won't
> do it. Airbus believes it has designed a computer that is smarter than a
> pilot (the evidence of dead bodies scattered around Mulhouse, France to
> the contrary) and gives the last word to the computer. If a pilot moves
> the controls so as to turn the airplane upside down, the computer will
> refuse.
>
> I can turn the B777 upside down. Once I get it upside down, if I let go of
> the controls, it will turn itself right-side up (smart airplane). I don't
> believe I will ever be in a situation where I will need to turn the
> airplane upside down, but I feel good knowing I have the control to do it.
> That's why I'm not really kidding when I say: "if it ain't a Boeing; I
> ain't going".
>
> What follows is an e-mail from a retired US Air Pilot who has flown the
> Airbus A320 just like the one that ended up in the Hudson. It was written
> in response to a friend asking him if he knew the pilot who did the
> ditching. It is most illuminating and worth the read...
>
> Dear Chuck,
>
> I don't know him. I've seen him in the crew room and around the system
> but never met him. He was former PSA and I was former Piedmont and we
> never had the occasion to fly together.
>
> The dumb shit press just won't leave this alone. Most airliner ditchings
> aren't very successful since they take place on the open ocean with wind,
> rough seas, swells and rescue boats are hours or days away. This one
> happened in fresh smooth water, landing with the current and the rescue
> boats were there picking people up while they were still climbing out of
> the airplane. It also happened on a cold winter day when all the pleasure
> boats were parked. Had this happened in July it would be pretty hard not
> to whack a couple of little boats. Sully did a nice job but so would 95%
> of the other pilots in the industry. You would have done a nice job.
>
> Don't be surprised if the Airbus fly by wire computers didn't put a
> perfectly good airplane in the water. In an older generation airplane
> like the 727 or 737-300/400, the throttles are hooked to the fuel
> controllers on the engine by a steel throttle cable just like a TBM or a
> Comanche. On the Airbus nothing in the cockpit is real. Everything is
> electronic. The throttles, rudder and brake pedals and the side stick are
> hooked to rheostats who talk to a computer who talks to a electric
> hydraulic servo valve which in turn hopefully moves something.
>
> In a older generation airplane when you hit birds the engines keep
> screaming or they blow up but they don't both roll back to idle
> simultaneously like happened to Flt. 1549. All it would take is for bird
> guts to plug a pressure sensor or knock the pitot probe off or plug it and
> the computers would roll the engines back to idle thinking they were over
> boosting because the computers were getting bad data. The Airbus is a real
> pile of shit. I don't like riding on them. Google the Airbus A320 Crash
> at the Paris Airshow in 1998. Watch the video of an airbus A320 crash
> into a forest because the computers wouldn't allow a power increase
> following a low pass. The computers wouldn't allow a power increase
> because they determined that the airspeed was too low for the increase
> requested so the computers didn't give them any. Pushing the throttles
> forward in a Airbus does nothing more than request a power increase from
> the computer. If the computer doesn't like all the airplane and engine
> parameters you don't get a power increase. Airbus blamed the dead crew
> since they couldn't defend themselves. A Boeing would still be flying.
>
> Eric
>

[lblavr]

Boeing or Airbus: 2 engines are fine provided they are fitted under each wing

[dbul]

First interview with the captain on "60 minutes":
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

This man rules!!!