US Airways flight crashes into the Hudson River [Old Bumped Thread]

[flylock shox]

^^ I can't believe how smoothly that thing landed. There was practically no vertical splash to speak of. Impressive.

[burn_this_city]

Doesnt look like he put the gear down.. I'm still surprised it didnt flip once the wings touched the water.

[ken0042]

Yeah, I wouldn't expect him to have the gear down. Landing gear is only good for landing on a runway/landing strip. I would even think that you wouldn't want the gear down landing in a field; as all it would do is be one more thing to rip off the plane.

I had to watch that landing over and over. I know on one episode of Mayday they showed a computer model of how a pilot could safely land on water, but no pilots were able to pull it off with a cripled plane.

Worth saying again- that pilot did an amazing job.

[Morozee]

They're trained to land in water gear up. Also the 'bus is designed so that it's engine's shear off from the pilon when impacting water. Sometimes this doesn't happen as it should and the airplane rolls up into a ball. Looks like the engines sheared from the pictures I've seen.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by Morozee

They're trained to land in water gear up. .. Looks like the engines sheared from the pictures I've seen.

If they landed with the gear down, the plane would sink like a rock, as it would open up the underbelly for the water to get in. That is if the gear didn't cause the plane to lose complete control upon hitting the water.

As for the engines, apparently 1 sheared off and the other is still attached.

[BlackArcher101]

Sinking from the gear being down would be the last concern... when the gear touches the water first it will try to pitch the nose of the plane down and into the water, causing a catastrophic crash. The gear bay is also sealed from the rest of the aircraft to maintain cabin pressure.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Sinking from the gear being down would be the last concern... when the gear touches the water first it will try to pitch the nose of the plane down and into the water, causing a catastrophic crash. The gear bay is also sealed from the rest of the aircraft to maintain cabin pressure.

If you tried to land a large plane in the water with the gear down the force would tear apart the plane and even likely to cause an explosion where the mains rip off since the fuel cells are right above them. The idea is to "skip" along the water and pray like hell you can keep it level enough for a wing tip not to dig in.

In the video posted by Kipper (post #32) the reason so many people were killed is he lost airspeed trying to get as close to land as possible after it ran out of fuel.(not the pilots fault as he was instrucked to do this by the highjackers) This video is shown to commercial pilots of what not to do if you have to ditch, your chances are never great with a large aircraft ( i tried it on a 757 sim twice and failed badly) but if you can keep up enough airspeed to keep the wings level you have a chance as was proven yesterday.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by redforever

Anyone on this plane could not have asked for a better pilot. He has 28 years flying experience, 19000 flying hours.

He is a glider pilot, has flown F4's in the airforce, has been on the safety commission that studies airplane accidents.

Kudos to the pilot.

Couldn't agree more, he did an amazing job to save so many lives.

What makes me sick is how often media calles this a 'miracle' and you hear people thanking god and not the real hero, this pilot.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Thor

Couldn't agree more, he did an amazing job to save so many lives.

What makes me sick is how often media calles this a 'miracle' and you hear people thanking god and not the real hero, this pilot.

I'm not going to say there was anything divine about it, but a lot of things beyond the pilots control had to be just right for everything to work out the way it did.

[Morozee]

Originally Posted by Dan02

If they landed with the gear down, the plane would sink like a rock, as it would open up the underbelly for the water to get in. That is if the gear didn't cause the plane to lose complete control upon hitting the water.

As for the engines, apparently 1 sheared off and the other is still attached.

No, the gear bays are most certainly water/air tight for pressurizing the fuselage. I thought it was obvious why a pilot wouldn't want to land in water gear down, but ya, that is why they would never do that.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by Morozee

No, the gear bays are most certainly water/air tight for pressurizing the fuselage. I thought it was obvious why a pilot wouldn't want to land in water gear down, but ya, that is why they would never do that.

hah well played, i reread what i wrote and realized it didn't make sense the way i meant it too. What I meant to imply was that the gear would probably be destroyed upon hitting the water and then presumably cause significant damage to the fuselage below the waterline if it didn't cause the plane to crash uncontrolably in the first place.

[Mr.Coffee]

I wonder how many push ups this pilot can do in 1 minute.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by fotze

Does a pilot like this get some sort of bonus? He really should, the amount of money he saved not too mention all the other stuff. Dude should get $5 million bucks and be set for life.

Ummm hellooooooooooo... we are in a recession???

God.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by fotze

Does a pilot like this get some sort of bonus? He really should, the amount of money he saved not too mention all the other stuff. Dude should get $5 million bucks and be set for life.

He will get endorsements, book deals and movie deals. Don't worry about Sully.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by fotze

Well he did more for US Airways than the CEO did this year so he should at least get paid more thn him.

This pilot is hilarious. He's like Captain America... except stronger and could probably even kick HIS ass. Reading his credentials makes me feel shame.

Even if he was given $5 million, he'd probably use it to solve world hunger.

[driveway]

Does it bug anyone else that this is being incessantly branded as a "miracle"? I can't help but feel that such a label takes away from the accomplishments of the crew.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by driveway

Does it bug anyone else that this is being incessantly branded as a "miracle"? I can't help but feel that such a label takes away from the accomplishments of the crew.

no, not at all.

I mean, the skills of this pilot were phenomenal and on the day, hour and minute when it counted, he called on all his skills and pulled this landing off.

But at the same time, no matter how skilled this pilot was, to not lose one life? For this to happen where he could land on the Hudson River rather than the middle of a large city or suburb? or in the middle of the ocean where ferry boats would not be available to quickly come to the rescue of all the passenger?

..... yeah, it is a miracle because usually the outcome is totally the opposite.

[Ryan Coke]

Alright, I am starting to get annoyed--this man, the Captain (there are 2 pilots), was but one part of the crew involved. Certainly he was an important part, but what of his First Officer? It is teamwork up there, not a one man show. In fact has it even been verified which one was flying at the time? Generally each one is 'flying' half the time. Either way, the success of this event is due to the professionalism and skill of both the pilots (yes, there are always 2).

And what of the cabin crew that did a great job of getting everyone out safely, and handling the 150 odd people in the back once the pilots put the airplane down in the drink.

I have every hope that this Captain's skills were important to this positive outcome, but there are many others that were critical to what happened, as well as alot of luck. There are many examples of professional, hardworking, and skilled pilots who do everything they can to keep their passengers safe, most of the time it is that skill keeps the event from ever even being noticed by the media.

And occasionally in spite of all that skill things do not work out positively.

I guess I am just a little annoyed at this Hollywood style hero seeking, that it must come down to 1 unique individual. There are many professional pilots who would have lead this to a happy outcome, and there were many who helped ensure this event became good news who seem to be forgotten.

[ken0042]

I guess I disagree. The fact of the matter is we all know who was at the controls, and that person did what no pilot has ever been able to do before; safely land a plane on water.

Did to co-pilot do his job well, yes. But would another accomplished co-pilot have been able to do the same tasks- I would say most likely. Did the flight crew do a great job of evacuating the plane- of course. But evacuating a plane is something that many people have done over the years.

Yes, this was a team effort. But in hockey terms this kind of landing is like a team winning game 7 the Stanley cup; final score 2-0; and the goalie who got the shutout also scored both goals. Sure he couldn't have done it without help from the team. But you would also want to recognize such an incredible effort by one person.

Plus with all the gloomy stories in the news lately; including ones that hit home like the economy, I like to hear a "feel-good" story.

[Ryan Coke]

Don't know if it was earlier in this thread, but I just found out that the FO was flying initially, then the Captain took control to put it down. Did you already know that the Captain was the PF (pilot flying)?

And the analogy in my mind is that Jerome gets a feed in front of the net, makes a great shot to win 1-0, but nobody cares about the goalie, the defencemen, the 3rd line grinders, or the guy that passed him the puck. But it was still a great shot.

Don't get me wrong, it was great work, very impressive, and very gratifying to see this crew, lead by this Captain, see this through to such a positive outcome.

I just get tired of the 'news channel as entertainment' angle of jumping to all sorts of conclusions and declaring a real american hero to make impressive headlines.

Good to see everyone walk away though.