Pilot receives a hero's welcome
"Hometown crowd cheers US Airways captain who landed jet in Hudson River."
"Hometown crowd cheers US Airways captain who landed jet in Hudson River."
Hudson River Ditching
- Thread starter WhoozOn1st
- Start date
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David Letterman says that Airbus has a new slogan for its products: "They float better than they fly!"
Reminds me of an old joke:
And then there was the man who was always missing success by just that much. Like the time he invented the slogan "good to the last drop." Great slogan? Sure.
But for Otis elevator company?
And then there was the man who was always missing success by just that much. Like the time he invented the slogan "good to the last drop." Great slogan? Sure.
But for Otis elevator company?
HAHA!!
There's a W.C. Fields variant on that: On his way down after falling out of a plane he wishes he had a Maxwell parachute; good to the last drop.
According to a brief item in the 2-5-09 L.A. Times, the NTSB did indeed find bird remains in both engines of the ditched A320. Remains from both engines have been turned over to the Smithsonian at D.C. for species identification.
Also, CNN has been playing tapes of aircraft-ATC communication as the situation developed.
EDIT: Listen: Air traffic tapes of Hudson plane crash released
Also, CNN has been playing tapes of aircraft-ATC communication as the situation developed.
EDIT: Listen: Air traffic tapes of Hudson plane crash released
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Looking around further, I found that the FAA website has quite a collection of ditching tapes (MP3) and transcripts (pdf) posted.
USAirways 1549 (AWE1549), January 15, 2009
The MP3s are pretty big files.
EDIT: I've only heard a couple of the tapes so far. Long silences. Doesn't mean things aren't working, just long silences sometimes between transmissions.
USAirways 1549 (AWE1549), January 15, 2009
The MP3s are pretty big files.
EDIT: I've only heard a couple of the tapes so far. Long silences. Doesn't mean things aren't working, just long silences sometimes between transmissions.
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Another version, almost, but not quite real-time, from before takeoff to after the ditching, is here:
AVWeb US 1549 ATC
AVWeb US 1549 ATC
Someone sent these to me - thought the forum might like to see them.
They are transporting the US Airways plane in New Jersey after it was taken out of the river.
They are transporting the US Airways plane in New Jersey after it was taken out of the river.
Long Train Runnin'
Engineer
Thanks for sharing
that would something to see if you weren't expecting it. Watching a plane be "taxied" through downtown.I noticed several pink painted circles on the cockpit area. That's where the mid-air collision occurred with the geese.
Here in California, Proposition 2 was a big winner in the November elections. As a piece of animal rights legislation it mandates big changes in the treatment of farm animals. The 3-7-09 L.A. Times ran a story about follow-on bills proposed by state legislators. Why note that here? Because one particular proposal (not exactly pro animal) is related to the Hudson ditching.
In the wake of the US Airways near-calamity, state Senator Dave Cox has introduced a bill that would give airports a green light to kill birds that pose a hazard. Naturally, animal rights groups are not exactly pleased. Audubon California is calling for changes that would exempt endangered species and explicitly make killing a last resort.
Other activists (big surprise) are opposed to any killing at all. Pamelyn Ferdin, co-president of the Animal Defense League, said "More people die per year from being struck by lightning than by birds interfering with planes. Why don't we outlaw airplanes that kill geese? Weren't the geese here first?"
It might be interesting to learn the views of Flight 1549's passengers and crew on this subject.
In the wake of the US Airways near-calamity, state Senator Dave Cox has introduced a bill that would give airports a green light to kill birds that pose a hazard. Naturally, animal rights groups are not exactly pleased. Audubon California is calling for changes that would exempt endangered species and explicitly make killing a last resort.
Other activists (big surprise) are opposed to any killing at all. Pamelyn Ferdin, co-president of the Animal Defense League, said "More people die per year from being struck by lightning than by birds interfering with planes. Why don't we outlaw airplanes that kill geese? Weren't the geese here first?"
It might be interesting to learn the views of Flight 1549's passengers and crew on this subject.
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Joel N. Weber II
Engineer
Maybe you should pass a law saying that if there are endangered birds near the airport that pose a hazard to airplanes, people have to catch high speed trains to some other airport. (Oh wait, this is the non-rail transportation forum. Maybe you could put them on buses. Maybe even trolleybuses. 60 MPH trolleybuses like we can't figure out how to make work in Boston.)
It also hardly strikes (no pun intended, really, I didn't even notice this until I was proofreading) me that one non-fatal accident should be the basis of a major policy change. Are there examples of bird strikes with more fatalities that have occured in California in the last decade?
It also hardly strikes (no pun intended, really, I didn't even notice this until I was proofreading) me that one non-fatal accident should be the basis of a major policy change. Are there examples of bird strikes with more fatalities that have occured in California in the last decade?
I'd rather the idiots across the street (in the State Capitol Building) do something constructive like fixing the structural problems with the state budget and to mandate that any new referendum and initiative has to come with its own source of funding so it does not come out of the general fund.
Long Train Runnin'
Engineer
Or the the thougts of US Airways who lost a very expensive A320 due to the birdies.
From Aviation Week:
Hudson Ditching Hearing To Be Webcast
"The hearing, originally scheduled for two days, was extended to a third because of the scope of the investigative factual findings and its implications for every sector of aviation - not to mention the huge public interest.
"There should be lots of operational information, and quite likely some bird-threat data that has never before been heard in one place."
Guess I'll be glued to the NTSB's website again. For the Metrolink wreck hearing I mostly just listened while doing other things, both online and off, then went visual when PowerPoint stuff (always announced for the record) came up. For some reason I couldn't get that hearing in IE, but it worked okay via AOL.
Hudson Ditching Hearing To Be Webcast
"The hearing, originally scheduled for two days, was extended to a third because of the scope of the investigative factual findings and its implications for every sector of aviation - not to mention the huge public interest.
"There should be lots of operational information, and quite likely some bird-threat data that has never before been heard in one place."
Guess I'll be glued to the NTSB's website again. For the Metrolink wreck hearing I mostly just listened while doing other things, both online and off, then went visual when PowerPoint stuff (always announced for the record) came up. For some reason I couldn't get that hearing in IE, but it worked okay via AOL.
George Harris
Engineer
Do you really think we can ever get a high speed railroad built in Californial or anywhere else until somebody develops enough common sense to shut these people down? No matter how hard you try, you are bound to go through the last know habitat of some critter that no one ever heard of before, or have to add a speed restricting curve to miss some historical plant or building, or rock formation or something that no one noticed until those opposed to the railroad found it and made it into an "environmental" issue.
Long Train Runnin'
Engineer
According to the Vanity Fair article (linked in this thread) discussing the Hudson River incident, the geese had originally been migratory. Then, a pair of birds had their wings clipped so that they would stay in the New York City area. Their offspring then got ingrained the instinct that the area was their home, and their migratory instincts were permanently changed. So, arguably, the geese weren't there first.
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