Well, looks like there were life vests on board.
I'm not sure the guy on the right watched the safety deomonstration....poor buggar!
Australian's survival a 'miracle' - National - smh.com.au

Sorry, haven't waded through the whole 28 pages, so apologies if this question's been asked and answered already, but is there anyone out there who could tell me the expected time of useful consciousness in water of that temperature? I'd be guessing ten to fifteen minutes, or not much more than that.

Re the wearling/not wearing of life jackets: I believe if rescue had not been immediately to hand, in water of that temperature, for those who didn't make it onto the escape slides anf remain dry, the only use the life jackets would have been after 20 minutes or so would have been to make it easier for rescue services to find the dead bodies.

On another point, I'm sorry to be a wet blanket, but I find myself really hoping with all my heart that subsequent investigations (by people, including bottom-feeding lawyers, who will have three weeks to pore over information the crew had to digest and deal with in a matter of seconds) do not find that they can pin some blame on the Captain and his crew for the failures that led them to needing to ditch. Previous similar events, (the A330 in the Azores, the BOAC 'cabbage patch' 707 in [I think] Heathrow in the '70s) where the crew have been loudly lauded by the press in the immediate aftermath of the incident only to be pilloried later, make me hope this will be the exception.

To use a slide raft at a different exit, ie rear slide raft at front door. Remove the slide bustle from the door, detach the girt bar and carry the slide to the other exit. Inflate outside that door. They are removable uninflated from where they are fitted. Inflating inside the airplane is bad form :-)

Thanks junior man, I thought that's what you were getting at... it's just not something I've ever seen in an EP manual for ditching... I guess the manual was assuming a quickly sinking aircraft, as opposed to one which floated for as long as this one did...

Just wondering though is the process you mentioned speaking from an engineer's perspective.. I mean I know it's POSSIBLE to do it... but is it taught that way? I'm pretty sure no airline in Aus teaches it that way... though it would make sense in open water... don't think you could do it on a 737 unless of course the bustle lifts up- actually I think it does, but as I've never been advised to do it I wasn't sure if it was possible- I suppose anything that gives one extra options in the water is a good thing!! ;)

Also I can't see it in the pic (maybe not looking hard enough! :p) but for the person asking about capacity, usually the slideraft has a grab line along both sides which could be used by people in the water to hold onto if the raft is full/at overload capacity... not ideal in water of the temps on that day though!

What??????????? detatch a slide raft and carry it to another door?

Are you serious?

1/ the risk of it accidentally inflating in the aircraft must be too high
2/ how heavy is the slide raft? must be too heavy to carry down a narrow aisle I would think.

ACMS, that was my thought- which is why I was asking- is this something taught as an actual ditch procedure (at my airline it sure as heck isn't, probably for the reasons you mention) or is it something from engineering experience with replacing used/unserviceable slides?

I asked because I would be very surprised if any airline taught that method as a procedure to be used in an actual ditching- e.g B737-800, block rear doors and redirect pax to overwing and forward exits. (No mention of taking slide packs to fwd doors for use there)

kudos
 

kudos to sully for a job well done but also kudos to the FO and the cabin crew. i think the press is forgetting them. without the cabin crews reaction and actions the plane could not have been evacuated in such a manner.

KUDOS to all the crew!

Detatching a slide from an unuseable door and taking it to another is certainly an option on Boeing aircraft as far as I know. (I was certainly taught the procedure.) Airbus too, if I my memory serves me correctly, but it's been a few years since I flew one of the Dark Side's products, so I stand ready to be corrected.

Wiley, would you mind telling us when you were taught this procedure? I just ask as I'm curious if maybe it's something which used to be taught, but is no longer reccommended by the aircraft manufacturers- just because this is the first mention of it I've ever heard!! Quite interesting...

Moving a slide raft
 

I am at my 6th A320 operator and at every one of them we recieved instruction on how to move a slide raft from one door to another. I was at my current airlines safety recurrent the day before the event and our class did the whole bit into the pool.

Top Notch FO
 

Just watched a BBC clip of one of the passengers in the hospital, the First Officer took the shirt off his back and gave it to one of the passengers! :eek:

Wow :D

"engine failure" might mean some engine power (a la BA 038). It might also mean turning at idle power only. It also could mean shutdown, but windmilling.

All three scenarios will produce hydraulic pressure.

At 3000'+ the aircraft would probably have been in a 'clean' configuration.

Oh, local northern N.J. newspaper stating that the landing was a miracle and quoted pprune.org as the proof -

"My flight instructor used to laugh about ditchings, no one's going to survive" post.

It was posted on pprune that ditichings should not be survivable, so that is now a fact. :sad::yuk:

Best Footage Yet
 

Coast Guard Camera from initial impact till mid rescue.

from LiveLeak.com - Hudson Crash from Coast Guard Camera

All we are missing now is the phone camera shots from the passengers.

That was some roll out.... 100 feet ?

I didnt say that if vests were carried and not worn that it was due to no briefing by cabin crew!
What i am saying is that (if they were onboard) they were not being worn when the aircraft hit the water when perhaps there was enough time for them to be donned had the crew given a warning. It seems pilot knew they were ditching for over 2 minutes before they touched down.

Now if life vests were on board it is interesting that since the plane was floating and stable more life vests were not retrieved from under seats and passed out to the wing walkers.

If there were no life vests on board as some have suggested then egress through the overwing carrying a seat cushion is a compromise.

Anyway I look at this there is room for improvement in this minor detail:)

Mickjoebill

Where's the video?

video
 

try liveleak.com

Amen to that, brother!!

What a truly amazing piece of airmanship and combined crew/rescue effort - Absolutely amazing!!! I cannot get over it!! Hope we can get some scenarios like these latest accidents (CIA, LHR, LGA) in our simulator in the future - We need to practice this. I doubt everyone could do such a thing after "Sully" and his crew. Good to know that it CAN be done though...
My utmost respect to all involved!! :ok:
God Bless America!!!

Coast gaurd vudeo of crash and rescue. Check out frame 4.17 and see what you can see on the shore!


LiveLeak.com - Hudson Crash from Coast Guard Camera