Forum: Civil and General Aviation

A birdstrike took out both engines shortly after departure from NY-LaGuardia IAP. The pilot ditched in the Hudson River. All 150 on board were rescued and are all safe.

My hat's off to this crew. That was a superb display of airmanship!

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Quote:

My hat's off to this crew. That was a superb display of airmanship!

NBC Nightly News just said the guy was a Phantom Phlyer.

Bravo Zulu saving those people.

Amazing. He ditches the bird with at least one engine out, full of gas, and everyone gets to walk away. Everytime I hear some idiot say pilots make way too much I think of times like this and I realize they are worth every penny they get. I like to think when I fly on a commercial jet the crew is just like this one: professional and experienced.

Thank you gentlemen.

Afterwards the pilot made two trips down the aisle to make sure no one else was still on board and then was the last one off. A true professional!

Purple

Was anyone out there surprised when they heard that he was an ex-USAF Phantom driver? Who'd have expected any less - amazing job by the Captain, Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger, and his entire crew.

I guess your seat cushion can be used as a flotation device...

Mike

MKopack wrote:

I guess your seat cushion can be used as a flotation device...

I can't help but think of George Carlin here:

"Well imagine that! My seat cushion...just what I need! To float around the North Atlantic for several days, clinging to a pillow full of BEER FARTS!"

Forum Veteran Joined: Dec 15, 2006 - 12:28 AM Posts: 760

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp ... 1#28705681

Same video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHwrkfnf7I4

MKopack wrote:

Was anyone out there surprised when they heard that he was an ex-USAF Phantom driver? Who'd have expected any less

I actually would have been shocked if he had not been a military trained pilot. Remember this next time you fly a little communter airline, the captain most likely has about 1000 hours total time, and his right seater has lees than him.

Quote:

I actually would have been shocked if he had not been a military trained pilot. Remember this next time you fly a little communter airline, the captain most likely has about 1000 hours total time, and his right seater has lees than him.

I can almost tell if the pilot is military-trained, the departure and approaches are always a lot smoother--and one time I could almost swear that the pilot didn't take the plane off autopilot-there was a lot of turbulence, but the pilot avoided almost all of it. I've asked three pilots that flew planes I was on if they had military training, all three said yes, and those were the best flights I was ever on.

Be careful here.

I've flown with experienced civilian trained pilots every bit the equal of (some even better than) a military trained one for any type of flying done in civil aircraft.

The only real difference is it cost the civilian trained guy more of his own $$$ than the military guy to get to the same level. (And probably a bunch of hours flying single pilot, single engine night freight around in bad weather for peanuts)

OL

This is a cool demonstration on what happens to Jet Engines when a single duck is flown much like the bird strike that caused the Hudson River plane crash:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5ZaGWe6-Vk

Close Lieven... but that was a "Blade-Out" test. If you notice the engine prior to the event, you'll see that one blade is colored. Also of note is the fact nothing is actually ingested (or shot) into the engine prior to the event. It is correctly identified in this post of the same video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-8_Gnbp2JA

Here are a few bird strike videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUBv-ph4820
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KhZwsYtNDE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-OtoMVBnoE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rl3BUfA0VE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgXkRgkHUk0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35FVYzf0uiY

Now this one video is not an F-16 as the author would lead you to believe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc-XiO4ojzk

This is the original video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXrjLXI-A64

http://www.birdstrike.org/commlink/top_ten.htm wrote:

Myth - Large aircraft are built to withstand all bird strikes.
Fact - Large commercial aircraft like passenger jets are certified to be able to continue flying after impacting a 4-lb bird, even if substantial and costly damage occurs and even if one engine has to be shut down. However, 36 species of birds in North America weigh over 4 lbs and most of these large birds travel in flocks. About 30% of reported strikes by birds weighing more than 4 lbs to civil aircraft in USA, 1990-2002, involved multiple birds. Even flocks of small birds (e.g., starlings, blackbirds) and single medium sized birds (e.g., gulls, ducks, hawks) can cause engine failure and substantial damage.

Keep 'em flyin' Thumb

(...and try to avoid the birds...)
TEG

Forum: Civil and General Aviation

US Airways A320 Ditching in the Hudson River