N1's rotating - is that perhaps just windmilling rotation with perhaps little, or no N2? N1 rotation does not mean you have an operating engine, even one stuck at a low idle stall.
"Loss of lift in turns" - the plane doesn't lose lift in the turn. The vertical component of lift is reduced in a turn, which impacts your gliding distance.
The decision to turn back - at the location of engine failure there are not suitable landing locations in the direction we were heading(looked around yesterday). Your choices are the Hudson or turn south to locate a better spot(not many).
After the turn southbound their location was above Rt 9(Broadway) and Dyckman St at 1700'(estimated). Prevailing winds were probably from the west or NW. The distance to where they landed is just under one mile farther than TEB rwy 06 or LGA 13. That's without figuring in the impact of the winds aloft.
However, we've had days to figure this out, while they had to make a quick decision. TEB would have been a very tough choice. Misjudge your gliding distance and your second options are much worse. LGA 13 you had some other options(East River abeam Riker's island).
The reality is they would have been fairly busy, while we've got hours to figure this out.
Folks have stated - "if you stretch your glide". You can't "stretch your glide". You can max perform the airplane or by using drag, or poor techniques, decrease your glide distance. Trying to "stretch" your glide beyond what the airplane is capable would actually reduce your glide performance if you were correctly flying the proper glide profile.
Last edited by misd-agin; 24th January 2009 at 14:16.
Reason: additional N1 verbiage