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US Airways Down

Watching it on CNN. It looks like the pilot did a phenomenal job landing the plane, no one appears to be dead or badly hurt. It sounds like a bird strike?
 
Not a normal landing, but I wouldn't call it a "crash"....maybe a "splash"...

In any event, the crew did a fantastic job of landing it and getting the pax out......:ernae:
 
wow! that's really something! i hope everyone turns out ok.
who knows, maybe this could lengthen goose season in the mid atlantic states:kilroy:
 
That's so incredible! I'd bet some of the passengers never got wet! Once I saw the pic of an intact fuselage, I knew it would have a good outcome for a change.
 
The pilot of this aircraft gets my nomination for "Pilot Of The Year, 2009" !!

Update: per ABC news, the pilot was Chelsey B. Sullenberger III, a former F-4 Phantom pilot, who had been flying for USAir for 29 years.
:amen::icon29::applause::woot:

Jeff
 
Jeff, make that "pilots".

Both pilots are heros on this one. Neither could have done it alone... especially in an emergency like this. I'm surprised that that A-320 stayed afloat as long as it did.... especially to get 150 people off with the doors and emergency exits open. A hunk of metal that big and loaded with fuel doesn't float well.

Heard that they "believe" birds were sucked into both engines. I figure they went thru a flock of geese. If it had only been one engine that went out, they might have had a good chance of making it back to LGA to land. Now they've got to fish it out of the Hudson River asap, or they'll have a mess with the fuel getting into the river. The pilots did the best thing tho and set her down in the river. If it had been any other place around there, it would have been a real disaster.

Also the news here said the river temp was 40*F. Even tho they got wet they would be dam cold but not have to worry as much as if the water temp was 32 or below. The air temp would be a problem tho. Only real injury I heard of was one of the pilots had a minor cut.

This was one lucky flight. It could have been like the crash in Washington DC back in 87 at Christmas, or just before. I'm guessing as close as I can on that date. I was in northern Virginia when that crash happened.
 
The pilot of this aircraft gets my nomination for "Pilot Of The Year, 2009" !!

Update: per ABC news, the pilot was Chelsey B. Sullenberger III, a former F-4 Phantom pilot, who had been flying for USAir for 29 years.
:amen::icon29::applause::woot:

Jeff

I could'nt agree with you more Jeff . What an amazing job of piloting skill .:applause:

Rich
 
Ditchings tend to be nasty, but the training is a lot better these days. Even so, to not rip the wings off when the engines hit.. and the ensuing break-up --Full marks to the crew! The often-flawed eyewitness reports make it sound like the touchdown was close to a full stall so the forward impact would be less - another bonus.

GT, don't forget that fuel is lighter than water, so that helped a bit (and may not have been "full") as would any trapped air in the wings. From the video the forward hatches and overwing exits stayed above water for quite a while. Also I think the forward bag hold is pressurized so it would seal well.

Rob
 
GT, don't forget that fuel is lighter than water, so that helped a bit (and may not have been "full") as would any trapped air in the wings. From the video the forward hatches and overwing exits stayed above water for quite a while. Also I think the forward bag hold is pressurized so it would seal well.

Rob

True on the fuel... I didn't take that into account, as with the pressurized baggage compartment. That's why the nose was riding high. Still a lot of weight to float that wasn't meant to. I imagine they didn't use a lot of fuel seeing they'd just took off. But they could have been "light" seeing they were stopping at Charlotte, NC, and put on more fuel there before heading west to Washington(state).

I was afraid one of the ferries was goning to hit a wing and push it under or break one off. All those boats around it did a great job. And their captains should be commended too. It sounds like their response was very fast.
 
Also I think the forward bag hold is pressurized so it would seal well.

Rob

Both fwd and aft cargo compartments plus the electronics bays are in the pressurized portion of the airframe. The A-320 also has a "Ditching" switch on the overhead panel which when pressed closes all the air conditioning pack doors and the pressurization outflow valve to seal the lower fuselage(ditching config) as best as possible delaying water ingress.
Great job by all involved to save everyone.:applause:

Regards, Rob:ernae:
 
They had enough time to get their bags out of the overhead compartment, although they may have shifted:faint:
 
Bloody brilliant!
Both engines out thanks to double bird strikes and the crew get it down into water without any injury to the passengers. Some hypothermia courtesy of the NY weather but nothing of any significance.
Bravo.
:applause::applause::applause:
 
Well, in my book, the 2nd Officer deserves some credit too. Without "both" of them it would have been much worse. These guys "usually" fly together and know what to do.... at least the ones I knew did. Yeah the Captain gives the orders but the 2nd Officer is doing it as he gives them out, if not before. At 3k from LGA to the Hudson it isn't very far, and you get wet real quick.

They're both heros in my book. :applause:
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According to the VATAWARE flight following the max altitude reached was 3200 ft.
 
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