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It has been already 4 years since Capt. Sully Sullenberger lost power in both engines of his aircraft and successfully landed his plane on the Hudson river with every single person surviving. Katie Couric dedicated her show today to this topic and hosted the man. The Man Behind the Miracle on the Hudson: Captain ‘Sully’ Sullenberger – Katie Couric
Any thoughts about how this has effected you as a pilot or as a passenger since then?
It has been already 4 years since Capt. Sully Sullenberger lost power in both engines of his aircraft and successfully landed his plane on the Hudson river with every single person surviving. Katie Couric dedicated her show today to this topic and hosted the man. The Man Behind the Miracle on the Hudson: Captain ‘Sully’ Sullenberger – Katie Couric
Any thoughts about how this has effected you as a pilot or as a passenger since then?
I still can't believe this. I am amazed at the composure this man must have had to bring that aircraft over the George Washington Bridge and smoothly put it down in the middle of the Hudson, without even affecting boats or structures in the immediate area, as far as I know.
I can't believe that was 4 years ago already. Time flies.
He did a remarkable job landing that aircraft and keeping all on-board as safe as possible. Truly amazing.
I watch the video from time to time. Luckily the plane's height at the time of the engine failure was 2000 feet, barely enough to turn left, and get over the bridge. On landing, if either wing tip had touched the water it could have caused the plane to cart wheel. The pilot was completey in control and quite poised when he told the co-pilot the plan as well as the control tower.
Also, the flights to Charlotte take that route out of the airport, or the river might not have been a choice.
Still disappointed he didn't land on the Intrepid...
Just kidding, of course. Damn nice piece of flying, great work on the cabin crew's part, the passengers seem to have kept their heads and I'll even throw some praise in the direction of those who designed and built that aircraft.
Head back the the airport. From his position, he had maybe a 50/50 chance of reaching the airport, but landing short could have been disastrous. I've flown this scenario in the simulator and made it back to the airport, but I'm not sure I would take the same chance in real life.
Crash into a populated area. The worst option.
Land on the water. Airliners have landed in the water before (with survivors). In fact, some airplanes regularly land on the water (seaplanes). So it is not so "miraculous" that a successful water landing was made. In fact, there are procedures in the flight manuals for landing in water, a.k.a. "ditching". In the plane he was flying, there is even a switch in the cockpit labeled "Ditching" to be used for just such exigencies.
That's not to take anything away from Sully or to say I could have done any better. He did as good a job as I would expect any pilot would have done.
One lesson that it taught me is the importance of climbing out steeply after takeoff. Air Traffic Control expects pilots to accelerate to 250 knots as quickly as practical, but I prefer the extra altitude myself. It gives you more options if you need to land and it gets you above the birds quicker.
You buy a ticket on an airliner to go from A to B. Just after departing A, you feel a bunch of thuds and everything goes quiet. After an eternity, a voice comes over the PA: "Brace for impact!". The cabin crew starts screaming at you to do just that. Two minutes later you splash - so hard that the cabin immediately fills with water. You evacuate and find yourself in bone chilling cold standing on the wing of the aircraft. After a couple of minutes, rescue appears in the form of a ferry boat. Throughout, the captain is nowhere to be seen, but (finally) he gets out of the plane. He then gets out his cell and calls his wife.
You later learn that instead of watching where he was going, that your captain was gawking "the beautiful view of the river". Not only that, his comment also distracted the man actually flying the plane, the co-pilot. You also learn that neither man saw the birds until a split second before impact, which means neither was keeping the lookout that would have allowed them to "See and Avoid". You then learn that the pilot did just about every conceivable thing wrong, so that instead of returning to the airport, safe and sound, you and 154 other people needlessly end up in a filthy, freezing river in a rapidly sinking aircraft, where, except for the most incredible luck in the form of a ferry boat, you would have been toast.
Question: is your captain a hero?
You buy a ticket on an airliner to go from A to B. Just after departing A, you feel a bunch of thuds and everything goes quiet. After an eternity, a voice comes over the PA: "Brace for impact!". The cabin crew starts screaming at you to do just that. Two minutes later you splash - so hard that the cabin immediately fills with water. You evacuate and find yourself in bone chilling cold standing on the wing of the aircraft. After a couple of minutes, rescue appears in the form of a ferry boat. Throughout, , but (finally) he gets out of the plane. He then gets out his cell and calls his wife.
You later learn that instead of watching where he was going, that your captain was gawking "the beautiful view of the river". Not only that, his comment also distracted the man actually flying the plane, the co-pilot. You also learn that You then learn that the pilot did just about every conceivable thing wrong, so that , you and 154 other people needlessly end up in a filthy, freezing river in a rapidly sinking aircraft, where, except for the most incredible luck in the form of a ferry boat, you would have been toast.
Question: is your captain a hero?
That's a bit harsh.
"the captain is nowhere to be seen" because he was ensuring that everyone was off the plane before he exited it. This is standard procedure for evacuation.
"neither man saw the birds until a split second before impact, which means neither was keeping the lookout that would have allowed them to 'See and Avoid'." or they were doing what every pilot does and divide their attention between inside and outside the aircraft. "See and Avoid" is intended for avoiding other planes, not birds. You usually can't spot birds until they are right in front of you.
"instead of returning to the airport, safe and sound". Like I said, he probably has a 50/50 chance of reaching the airport. If he made it, that would have been heroic. If he didn't make it, he would have been criticized for attempting it when he could have landed safely on the Hudson.
"in a rapidly sinking aircraft". Not true. It stayed afloat.
"Question: is your captain a hero?" I'd say no, just a good pilot.
That's a bit harsh.
Now that the feathers have settled, I say it's high time that we got 'harsh'.
"the captain is nowhere to be seen" because he was ensuring that everyone was off the plane before he exited it. This is standard procedure for evacuation.
A leader leads. The man choked all the way down and he choked after he was down. The unanswered question remains: Other than going back to get his flight jacket, what else was he doing during that time?
"...they were doing what every pilot does and divide their attention between inside and outside the aircraft. "See and Avoid" is intended for avoiding other planes, not birds. You usually can't spot birds until they are right in front of you.
I'm a pilot: Sea and Avoid applies to everything. Especially in one of the world's busiest bird migratory corridors.
As for dividing their attention between inside and outside, Sully's "beautiful view of the river" and Skiles' "Yeah"-comments clearly indicate that both had their attention outside the aircraft. The problem was, it was NOT where it should have been. Hence their going where they were watching, not watching where they were going.
Simple fact: you can spot a flapping 100-meter wide target against a clear sky for many miles. These guys only saw it just a football field's distance away. Ask yourself "Why?"
"instead of returning to the airport, safe and sound". Like I said, he probably has a 50/50 chance of reaching the airport."
No 'probably' about it and no need to invent your own statistics. Sully admits that he instantly knew his goose was cooked. The NTSB proved that had he turned back when, in his first transmission (where he forgot his call sign) he said he was ("(I'm) returning to La Guardia"), he could have landed safe and sound. For pilots that sim'd the return, 100% made it. The easiest way to determine if he could make the airport was to measure and compare the distance traveled after impact to the final splashdown. It was about three times more than it would have taken to return to LGA. Tell you anything?
"If he made it, that would have been heroic. If he didn't make it, he would have been criticized for attempting it when he could have landed safely on the Hudson".
If he'd have made it, it would have been just another footnote. Lots of pilots have made deadstick landings. Just ask every pilot that's commanded a Shuttle mission. Even if he'd missed the runway, he still had the water option. He choked.
"in a rapidly sinking aircraft". Not true. It stayed afloat.
Because he turned downwind (he forgot that you land against the wind), didn't use full flaps (he forgot that the idea is to slow the airplane as much as possible), forgot to hit the ditch switch (even when Skiles asked, he still said he had), and was flying significantly higher than the recommended speed (he even ignored the automatic flight display telling him the proper speed), he impacted with such force that he tore open a great gaping hole in the tail, this resulting in immediate flooding. It also fired a support member through the floorboards that seriously injured a flight attendant. Not good.
"Question: is your captain a hero?" I'd say no, just a good pilot".
Still think the man was even a "good" pilot?
Last edited by Bruff; 01-17-2013 at 09:36 AM..
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