Greybeard said
Serious errors, apparently: reportedly the PNF had not selected the Ditch switch, nor notified the cabin crew of ditching.
The ditching checklist is a full page and designed for a
planned ditching, not something evolving from a dual engine failure at low altitude.
Second, the USAir procedures recommend that the Capt go to the checklist and the F/O fly the airplane using the autopilot. In this circumstance, the Capt took the airplane and worked on finding a suitable place to put it down while the F/O worked on the engine relight checklist.
And yes, there was apparently no time to tell the FAs it would be a ditching but the time line suggests it was about three minutes from bird strike to touchdown, little time to do little other than 1) fly and 2) try to relight the engines.
Still, this is an example of a team effort. The FAs are all senior and experienced and this was the last leg of a 4 day trip. The group of individuals had become a functioning team and although comm was not perfect, it didn't have to be. Preferred? Yes. Required? No.
If you have been in and out of KLGA and KTEB you will know that they sit amid densely populated areas, runways are only 7000ft long and at LGA 3 runways end near or going into the water. You have one shot at getting it down, on the runway and stopped and it is not a good one.. thus the Hudson.
No doubt by now some -320 sim team has duplicated this and tried to make it into LGA or TEB. Like post United 232 simulations, I doubt most initial efforts were successful. I could be wrong.