Plane Down in Hudson River - NYC
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Landing Gear Down?
I heard an eyewitness observing from an office window (next to the river) say the landing gear was down, "just like a normal landing".
Seems counter intuitive for a ditching but, we shall soon find out. Be interesting to see what happened to the engines too. Two less birds to worry about, 3 if you count the airplane. Best possible outcome though, glad for everyone.
Seems counter intuitive for a ditching but, we shall soon find out. Be interesting to see what happened to the engines too. Two less birds to worry about, 3 if you count the airplane. Best possible outcome though, glad for everyone.
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Free drinks tonight for Ferry Captains!
Yep they deserve it!
Especially Brittany Catanzaro the captain of the second ferry to reach the aircraft.
I wonder if she drinks Coke or Pepsi? 
(she is 20 and "under age")
She was in the news last month.
MyFox New York | A Youthful Ferry Captain
Especially Brittany Catanzaro the captain of the second ferry to reach the aircraft.
But Catanzaro knew exactly what to do. She said she and her crew train each month for water rescues.
"We have to do man overboard, and we're constantly drilling. Constantly," she said. "And when something comes, you already know how to take effect and how to put everything together, so it just went very smoothly."
Catanzaro immediately told her crew to get life jackets on, take extras to throw in the water, and prepare a cradle to help bring passengers onto the boat. The boat was the second on the scene.
"When I got there, my crew went to work and started pulling out people," she said. "Some people were sighing with relief, some people were crying. It was nerve-wracking."
In all, Catanzaro's crew helped bring 24 people aboard.
"We have to do man overboard, and we're constantly drilling. Constantly," she said. "And when something comes, you already know how to take effect and how to put everything together, so it just went very smoothly."
Catanzaro immediately told her crew to get life jackets on, take extras to throw in the water, and prepare a cradle to help bring passengers onto the boat. The boat was the second on the scene.
"When I got there, my crew went to work and started pulling out people," she said. "Some people were sighing with relief, some people were crying. It was nerve-wracking."
In all, Catanzaro's crew helped bring 24 people aboard.
(she is 20 and "under age")
She was in the news last month.
MyFox New York | A Youthful Ferry Captain
Last edited by limp_leek; 16th Jan 2009 at 03:56. Reason: video link.
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Local SFO Bay Area news programs starting to grab onto the local angle here. Sully lives in Danville, which is essentially a suburb of San Francisco, about 30 miles east of the city. I imagine the news crews will be camping out in front of the family home there. Fully expect a big time reception at the airport when he returns home.
jetsy
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info, background on the pf..so we know where the great stuff comes from.
C. B. "Sully" Sullenberger - LinkedIn
C. B. "Sully" Sullenberger - LinkedIn
all engines
....3.5 out of 4 on a Nimrod, ex Kinloss, 17 Nov 1980, Canadian Geese at 20' on takeoff....
The same frail humans the industry and public are so quick to blame for being human are also able to make the difference when things go awry.
Airbus? Toyota tuff!
The same frail humans the industry and public are so quick to blame for being human are also able to make the difference when things go awry.
Airbus? Toyota tuff!
Last edited by fdr; 16th Jan 2009 at 04:26.
Marine Rescue Details from NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/ny...e.html?_r=1&hp
Very, very fortunate this ditching was not in an isolated area. Without the timely and well done marine rescue, this cold water ditching could have resulted in major losses.
The police divers found two women, going limp, with minutes to live in the frigid waters between New York and New Jersey.
“They were lethargic,” said one of the divers, Detective Michael Delaney. “They were no help whatsoever. Their extremities were frozen cold.”
He and the other diver, Detective Robert Rodriguez, shoved one of the women aboard a boat with the help of workers on board. Detective Delaney soon helped the other woman aboard as well.
That was the scene in the minutes after US Airways Flight 1549 slid into the Hudson River on Thursday afternoon after the crew reported that the plane had struck a flock of birds shortly after leaving La Guardia Airport.
For a moment after the water landing, it was a picture of eerie calm, the airplane floating on its belly in the center of the river near West 48th Street under a bright sky. A witness in a penthouse apartment called it a perfect landing, as if on cement.
But very soon the water was churned by an ad hoc flotilla of boats and ferries flying the flags of most every city, state and federal agency that works the waters around New York City. They sped toward the slowly sinking jet, a rescue operation complicated by river currents that kept dragging the plane south, as its passengers climbed aboard the wings to await help...
The plane’s pilot walked the aisles of the cabin twice to ensure no one was left behind before he exited...
Vessels from the New York Police and Fire Departments and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey worked with New York Waterway ferries, which sent 14 boats, and the Coast Guard in the rescue. “We sent as many boats as we had,” said Alan Warren of New York Waterway.
The operation was not without improvisation: Four New York police officers commandeered a Circle Line boat picking up tourists and commuters at 42nd Street and hurried to the jet. Two officers stayed on the ferry and tied themselves to two detectives, John McKenna and James Coll, who stepped onto the wing and helped people onto rescue boats, the police said.
The divers were at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn when the call came over the radio of an airplane down.
A pilot at the field, Sgt. Michael Hendrix, 42, said that he imagined it was a small airplane, a routine job.
The pilot and the divers scrambled aboard a helicopter. Air traffic controllers gave them a special route to the Hudson River.
Sergeant Hendrix took the helicopter on a path that passed the Empire State Building and as he passed the skyscraper, he dipped the helicopter down. He saw the jetliner in the water — its tube floating and US Airways spelled out on its side. “I never, in a million years, expected to see US Airways in the Hudson River,” he said...
The helicopter hovered, making sure not to get too close out of concern that the winds from the rotor would push passengers into the water, Sergeant Hendrix said. The divers jumped from the helicopter not far from the water. About five to seven minutes had passed since the 911 call, Sergeant Hendrix said.
The divers saw the women fighting for their lives in the water.
The women were clinging to a ferry but were unable to get aboard as the water quickly numbed them. Detective Delaney entered the water without an air tank, but only his diving suit, mask and snorkel and approached a woman floating in a life vest, he said.
“She was very frantic,” he said. “I just told her to relax and tell me what her name was.” She feared the ferry she was holding onto would run her over, he said.
The second woman had panicked and fallen off a ferry, the divers said. “I swam over to her and helped her in,” Detective Delaney said...
A majority of the patients were in stable condition. “Mild signs of hypothermia,” ...
Honorio Hector Rabanes, a deckhand on the Thomas Keane, a New York Waterway ferry, summed up the just-doing-our-jobs underplaying of the rescue typical of many who spoke of it Thursday night.
“Basically, let me tell you, we were in the right place at the right time,” he said.
But he went on to describe the panic of the passengers: “When we got near them, we heard a lot of yelling. Once they saw us, they were still panicking. We saw two babies on the lifeboat and we tried to get them to pass them to us, but they couldn’t listen. They were just holding on to them tight.”
“They were lethargic,” said one of the divers, Detective Michael Delaney. “They were no help whatsoever. Their extremities were frozen cold.”
He and the other diver, Detective Robert Rodriguez, shoved one of the women aboard a boat with the help of workers on board. Detective Delaney soon helped the other woman aboard as well.
That was the scene in the minutes after US Airways Flight 1549 slid into the Hudson River on Thursday afternoon after the crew reported that the plane had struck a flock of birds shortly after leaving La Guardia Airport.
For a moment after the water landing, it was a picture of eerie calm, the airplane floating on its belly in the center of the river near West 48th Street under a bright sky. A witness in a penthouse apartment called it a perfect landing, as if on cement.
But very soon the water was churned by an ad hoc flotilla of boats and ferries flying the flags of most every city, state and federal agency that works the waters around New York City. They sped toward the slowly sinking jet, a rescue operation complicated by river currents that kept dragging the plane south, as its passengers climbed aboard the wings to await help...
The plane’s pilot walked the aisles of the cabin twice to ensure no one was left behind before he exited...
Vessels from the New York Police and Fire Departments and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey worked with New York Waterway ferries, which sent 14 boats, and the Coast Guard in the rescue. “We sent as many boats as we had,” said Alan Warren of New York Waterway.
The operation was not without improvisation: Four New York police officers commandeered a Circle Line boat picking up tourists and commuters at 42nd Street and hurried to the jet. Two officers stayed on the ferry and tied themselves to two detectives, John McKenna and James Coll, who stepped onto the wing and helped people onto rescue boats, the police said.
The divers were at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn when the call came over the radio of an airplane down.
A pilot at the field, Sgt. Michael Hendrix, 42, said that he imagined it was a small airplane, a routine job.
The pilot and the divers scrambled aboard a helicopter. Air traffic controllers gave them a special route to the Hudson River.
Sergeant Hendrix took the helicopter on a path that passed the Empire State Building and as he passed the skyscraper, he dipped the helicopter down. He saw the jetliner in the water — its tube floating and US Airways spelled out on its side. “I never, in a million years, expected to see US Airways in the Hudson River,” he said...
The helicopter hovered, making sure not to get too close out of concern that the winds from the rotor would push passengers into the water, Sergeant Hendrix said. The divers jumped from the helicopter not far from the water. About five to seven minutes had passed since the 911 call, Sergeant Hendrix said.
The divers saw the women fighting for their lives in the water.
The women were clinging to a ferry but were unable to get aboard as the water quickly numbed them. Detective Delaney entered the water without an air tank, but only his diving suit, mask and snorkel and approached a woman floating in a life vest, he said.
“She was very frantic,” he said. “I just told her to relax and tell me what her name was.” She feared the ferry she was holding onto would run her over, he said.
The second woman had panicked and fallen off a ferry, the divers said. “I swam over to her and helped her in,” Detective Delaney said...
A majority of the patients were in stable condition. “Mild signs of hypothermia,” ...
Honorio Hector Rabanes, a deckhand on the Thomas Keane, a New York Waterway ferry, summed up the just-doing-our-jobs underplaying of the rescue typical of many who spoke of it Thursday night.
“Basically, let me tell you, we were in the right place at the right time,” he said.
But he went on to describe the panic of the passengers: “When we got near them, we heard a lot of yelling. Once they saw us, they were still panicking. We saw two babies on the lifeboat and we tried to get them to pass them to us, but they couldn’t listen. They were just holding on to them tight.”
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This crew really have done the industry proud.
From a flight attendants view , I am so amazed at how the 3 cabin crew ( 2 seated at front...1 at rear ?? ) managed to control 150 people once the aircraft landed in water. Not an easy task.
The cabin crew IMHO are heroic too.
WELL DONE.
From a flight attendants view , I am so amazed at how the 3 cabin crew ( 2 seated at front...1 at rear ?? ) managed to control 150 people once the aircraft landed in water. Not an easy task.
The cabin crew IMHO are heroic too.
WELL DONE.
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The plane’s pilot walked the aisles of the cabin twice to ensure no one was left behind before he exited...
Bear in mind that this elementary error comes from the New York Times, which bills itself as "The Paper of Record", the most authoritative press organ in America. So much for that. Are there any journalists who get their aviation details correct?
In any event, kudos to the captain for calm and professionalism, and for having taken the time under strained circumstances to double-check.
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IMHO, both engines likely departed the wing simultaneously. If only one remained, the drag of it would yank the aircraft around it causing the level of damage seen with Ethiopian 767 (wing with engine still attached being ripped from the wingbox). This aircraft being still very intact indicates to me that lateral forces were kept to a minimum (the drag on each wing remained more or less equal during the ditch).
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Great job! I hope someone managed to capture this on video as it would be an exellent training aid. Touching wingtip and ground looping à la B757 off Kenya was NOT way to go. Obviously his technique, configuration and attitude at touchdown were flawless to keep that airplane in one piece.
With his CV he should be re-writing the SOP's for ditching.
AGain - WELL DONE!
Valcon
With his CV he should be re-writing the SOP's for ditching.
AGain - WELL DONE!
Valcon
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Why the hell would anyone start thinking that the crew made some mistake?
Let me say what is on my mind -
1. The crew did one fantastic job!!!!!!!
2. Anyone blaming the crew needs to go take a swim in the same river!!!!
3. From the look of it - it is highly probable that the aircraft lost both engines which is not difficult if a single bird the size of a duck can take out the engine on a wide body the chances of it happening to take out both when striking a flock of birds with multiple birds going through the engines are very high!!!!
4. Can't you for one minute except that sh!t sometimes does happen and it is pure skill and probably years of experience that saved the people on board!
HF
Let me say what is on my mind -
1. The crew did one fantastic job!!!!!!!
2. Anyone blaming the crew needs to go take a swim in the same river!!!!
3. From the look of it - it is highly probable that the aircraft lost both engines which is not difficult if a single bird the size of a duck can take out the engine on a wide body the chances of it happening to take out both when striking a flock of birds with multiple birds going through the engines are very high!!!!
4. Can't you for one minute except that sh!t sometimes does happen and it is pure skill and probably years of experience that saved the people on board!
HF
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Is this why it didn't sink?
An item in the Crikey e-zine in Australia says it didn't sink because the cabin crew made sure the rear doors weren't opened.
Ben Sandilands writes:
There is something about single aisle jets like the one that splashed down on New York's Hudson River today that you are never told in safety briefings on any airline.
And that is that if you were to pop the rear exits in a "water parking" incident like today's, the jet will sink -- very, very quickly.
Airbus A320s, like the one involved in today's dramatic but fatality-free crash, and their Boeing 737 counterparts, will come to rest in survivable ditchings in a tail down attitude with the rear door sills under water.
But airlines all around the world consider this "too much information". Instead passengers are asked to study "the safety card in front of you", which gives easy to follow instructions, also reproduced in large letters and symbols on the inside of the doors, as to how to release the doors if the cabin attendants are "incapacitated".
Bear this in mind. You are asked to note your nearest exit. And you are shown how to operate it. But you are never told not to deploy the rear doors if you find yourself on a body of water like Port Phillip, or Botany Bay, or the mouth of the Brisbane River.
A US Airways Airbus A320. Notice the rear doors near the tail
The Airbus A320 after landing. The rear doors are now submerged.
In today's outstandingly successful emergency landing on the Hudson River, the crew seated in the jump seats beside each rear door had been trained to urge passengers forward to the overwing and front sets of exits in such a situation.
This was exceptionally important in New York today. Not only was the river freezing cold, but fast flowing. The jet floated from around 50th Street on Manhattan to at least 23rd Street in a matter of minutes, bedecked on the wings, and the forward door slides, with passengers looking as if they were waiting for a train.
The forward slides on which most of them were standing could also have been detached and turned into life boats.
Awareness of the dangers of the rear exits in a ditching is just one of the critical elements of cabin crew training at Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Blue.
But what if the rear section cabin crew were incapacitated?
Maybe a sign DO NOT OPEN AFTER A WATER LANDING should be affixed to the inside of the rear doors. CASA and the airlines have been asked for their views on this.
Early reports are that the US Airways flight struck geese soon after takeoff. However, the height above ground and the momentum of the jet seems to come together fortuitously, because live flight tracking sites showed it reached a height of about 3000 feet, and remained airborne for around six minutes before splashdown.
(These figures are unofficial.)
After crossing a tract of suburbs and electing not to land at the small Teterboro field which they were fast approaching, the pilots glided the plane down the Hudson River, clearing the George Washington Bridge and its 180 metre tall pylons before splash down.
Bird strikes causing passenger flight crashes are rare. The last significant accident was 48 years ago, on 4 October 1960, when an Eastern Air Lines Electra turbo prop hit seagulls on taking off at Boston's Logan Airport and crashed with the loss of 62 lives out of 72 people on board.
Ben Sandilands writes:
There is something about single aisle jets like the one that splashed down on New York's Hudson River today that you are never told in safety briefings on any airline.
And that is that if you were to pop the rear exits in a "water parking" incident like today's, the jet will sink -- very, very quickly.
Airbus A320s, like the one involved in today's dramatic but fatality-free crash, and their Boeing 737 counterparts, will come to rest in survivable ditchings in a tail down attitude with the rear door sills under water.
But airlines all around the world consider this "too much information". Instead passengers are asked to study "the safety card in front of you", which gives easy to follow instructions, also reproduced in large letters and symbols on the inside of the doors, as to how to release the doors if the cabin attendants are "incapacitated".
Bear this in mind. You are asked to note your nearest exit. And you are shown how to operate it. But you are never told not to deploy the rear doors if you find yourself on a body of water like Port Phillip, or Botany Bay, or the mouth of the Brisbane River.
A US Airways Airbus A320. Notice the rear doors near the tail
The Airbus A320 after landing. The rear doors are now submerged. This was exceptionally important in New York today. Not only was the river freezing cold, but fast flowing. The jet floated from around 50th Street on Manhattan to at least 23rd Street in a matter of minutes, bedecked on the wings, and the forward door slides, with passengers looking as if they were waiting for a train.
The forward slides on which most of them were standing could also have been detached and turned into life boats.
Awareness of the dangers of the rear exits in a ditching is just one of the critical elements of cabin crew training at Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Blue.
But what if the rear section cabin crew were incapacitated?
Maybe a sign DO NOT OPEN AFTER A WATER LANDING should be affixed to the inside of the rear doors. CASA and the airlines have been asked for their views on this.
Early reports are that the US Airways flight struck geese soon after takeoff. However, the height above ground and the momentum of the jet seems to come together fortuitously, because live flight tracking sites showed it reached a height of about 3000 feet, and remained airborne for around six minutes before splashdown.
(These figures are unofficial.)
After crossing a tract of suburbs and electing not to land at the small Teterboro field which they were fast approaching, the pilots glided the plane down the Hudson River, clearing the George Washington Bridge and its 180 metre tall pylons before splash down.
Bird strikes causing passenger flight crashes are rare. The last significant accident was 48 years ago, on 4 October 1960, when an Eastern Air Lines Electra turbo prop hit seagulls on taking off at Boston's Logan Airport and crashed with the loss of 62 lives out of 72 people on board.
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Class of Airspace - Reply to FINAL VECTORS #228
It's a VFR corridor up to 1100' then above that you're in Class Bravo. LGA tower controls the section south of the GW Bridge if I remember correctly.
Looking at the Passur Airport Monitor replay it looks like he had lost at least 1400' in the steep left turn and by the time he was wings level southbound it's hard to imagine he could have made Teterboro. The ditch looks like the only way to go, even with 20-20 hindsight and time to think. Hats off for the lightening quick call by Sully and perfect execution.
Looking at the Passur Airport Monitor replay it looks like he had lost at least 1400' in the steep left turn and by the time he was wings level southbound it's hard to imagine he could have made Teterboro. The ditch looks like the only way to go, even with 20-20 hindsight and time to think. Hats off for the lightening quick call by Sully and perfect execution.
Last edited by FiveOneHotel; 16th Jan 2009 at 05:22.
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Fantastic job by the whole crew.
Point of order on the comments about the Ethiopian ditching.
Don't forget Captain Abate was trying to fight off hijackers who were grappling with the controls right up to the point that the wing tip dug in. I'm sure his attempts would have had an even more favourable outcome if he had been allowed to fly unimpeded.
Point of order on the comments about the Ethiopian ditching.
Don't forget Captain Abate was trying to fight off hijackers who were grappling with the controls right up to the point that the wing tip dug in. I'm sure his attempts would have had an even more favourable outcome if he had been allowed to fly unimpeded.
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Yip an amazing job by the crew.
...... and to all those from parts of the world that regularly and arrogantly
crtiticize our American colleauges for how "casual " they are on the radio's ; what a low academic standard their licence has ; how cavalier they seem to be etc. I hope this rubs your nose in it .
well done gentleman , and off course Mr Airbus seems to have bulit a strong machine. ( also I hope rubbing some critics noses right in it)
...... and to all those from parts of the world that regularly and arrogantly
crtiticize our American colleauges for how "casual " they are on the radio's ; what a low academic standard their licence has ; how cavalier they seem to be etc. I hope this rubs your nose in it .
well done gentleman , and off course Mr Airbus seems to have bulit a strong machine. ( also I hope rubbing some critics noses right in it)
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Having just woken up to report for my flight this morning and missing out on the news when this happened, it really does keep me going, when we learn of crew like this US Airways crew, who are professional and do exactly what is expected of them as crew.
As cabin crew, I don't think we always appreciate the skills that our pilots have and it is great to see the dedication and hard work of flight crew..
I now need to get ready for a lovely 11 hour flight on the good old 747! Well done to all of the crew at US Airways 1549.
As cabin crew, I don't think we always appreciate the skills that our pilots have and it is great to see the dedication and hard work of flight crew..
I now need to get ready for a lovely 11 hour flight on the good old 747! Well done to all of the crew at US Airways 1549.
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Are there any journalists who get their aviation details correct?
I know about a dozen who never make any errors and who always check to the nth degree even under pressure: one highly-acclaimed gentleman from Northern Ireland who works in Wa (the only West Coast aerospace commentator of any description who knows the industry), a couple of true aerospace specialists in Va, three or four on the East Coast, one seriously talented young French lady in London, a sharp-as-can-be Frenchman, also in London (there are NO competent or objective French aerospace journalists in France itself due to heavy pro-Airbus bias but there are two or three excellent US female journos in Paris), plus a couple of conscientious people in the Far East.
You can always tell a good journalist by the questions he or she asks, not just by the articles he or she writes.
I seem to recall that Air NZ had a very close call in the early 80's when a B747 that departed Christchurch flew into a flock of seagulls. Multiple engine damage/shutdowns/restarts - but a happy ending.
I trust that the company bought new undies all round for the tech crew!
Dr
I trust that the company bought new undies all round for the tech crew!
Dr