US Airways Flight 1549: Lost Two Engines, No People

"Last moments of stricken Flight 1549"
The Sydney Morning Herald (January 18, 2009)

"SILENTLY, with no outward signs of the turmoil and heartache onboard, US Airways Flight 1549 prepares for one of the most remarkable crashes in aviation history.

"With the icy waters of New York's Hudson River below and a city largely oblivious to its plight, the plane's Captain Chesley Sullenberger undertakes the manoeuvre of his life.

"Four minutes earlier, the Airbus A320 struck birds after taking off from LaGuardia Airport, disabling its engines. At 1500 feet (457 metres), Captain Sullenberger faced his worst fear...."

Flight 1549: Not Your Typical Trip

An airliner, with no working engines, coming down in New York City's Hudson River, in the middle of winter, is not an ideal situation. Here in Minnesota, we have a phrase for the aftermath: "It could have been worse."

Much worse.

Everybody survived. Sounds like there's even been some luggage recovered.

One of the passengers said that the plane's crew were "phenomenal, in all respects." The pilot, Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, has gotten quite a bit of attention. For good reason:

" 'It would appear that the pilot did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river and then making sure that everybody got out,' Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference Thursday.

" 'I had a long conversation with the pilot. He walked the plane twice after everybody else was off and tried to verify that there was nobody else on board -- and assures us there was not.' " (CNN)


(from FOXNews, used without permission)
'Any landing you walk away from is a good one.'

Emergency Ditching Instructions for Overland Flights: "How Stupid is THAT?"

Emergency ditching instructions for an overland flight of a thousand miles, with just a few hundred feet of open water here and there along the way, sounds like a waste of time.

One fellow wrote about thinking: "...'How stupid is THAT?' as prerecorded safety announcements would say, 'In the unlikely event of a water landing, your seat cushion will serve as a flotation device.'

"What moron, I would think, insisted that they run that stupid tape on every landlocked flight?..." (InformationWeek) That was then, he said: now, he's decided to "take some responsibility for my own personal risk management and pay attention...."

Sounds like a good idea to me.

More:

• "Surveillance Video Released of US Airways Plane Landing in Hudson River"
  FOXNews (January 17, 2009)
• "US Airways pilot made his mark as a Texas teen"
  The Dallas Morning News (January 17, 2009)
• "US Airways Crash And Hero Pilot Sully Sullenberger"
  InformationWeek (January 16, 2009)
• "How do you land a plane on water?"
  BBC (January 16, 2009)
• "US Airways captain the 'consummate pilot'"
  CNN (January 16, 2009)