US Airways A320 ditches in Hudson River - pax and crew OK !

[LX-LGX]

CNN has a new video online, showing the speed and angle at impact:

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/01/18/hu ... nnSTCVideo

(the new one is "Video shows crash landing - 1min25")

[boul]

Another pilot, a Belgian one, managed to safely land his Boeing 737-800 after a bird strike that damaged both engines: captain Frédéric Colson flying with Ryanair and based in Hahn saved the life of 172 passengers on 10 November 2008 after the plane hit a cloud of birds shortly after take-off from Rome Ciampino. The pilot managed to land the aircraft like a glider on the Ciampino runway. There were 250 impacts of birds on the plane and it is estimated that more than 1000 went through the engines.

New York made the USAir pilot a hero, whereas few people ever heard of the Belgian pilot....

As I already mentioned, US captain 'Sully' happens to be a glider-instructor. No coïncidence Frédéric Colson also is a ... glider pilot altough more active as flight instructor at St Hubert Airfield.

[earthman]

No surprise lots of well known glider champions are among the best professional airline pilots.

Also Neil Armstrong,the first man on the moon is a glider pilot .

I fail to see how being a glider pilot would in any way help you to land on the moon...

[ElcoB]

Interesting article, especialy for the young and ambitious........

For Flight 1549, With Age Came Wisdom

......
Like Mr. Sullenberger, Mr. Skiles has been flying since he was a teenager. Mr. Skiles — the father of three teenage children — was also the youngest member of the very experienced five-person crew that averaged 54.4 years.

According to information about the crew posted on the US Airways Web site, Doreen Welsh, a 58-year-old flight attendant, from Pittsburgh, Pa., was the oldest crew member on board. She joined the company in 1970, when it was known as Allegheny Airlines.

Another attendant, Sheila Dail, 57, joined the company in 1980. And the third flight attendant, Donna Dent, 51, started with US Airways in 1982. WXII12 News in Winston-Salem, where Ms. Dent lives, reports that she

and her husband, Bill, are still in New York City while she awaits the National Transportation Safety Board interview scheduled for Saturday morning.

Mr. Skiles, who has worked for US Airways for 23 years, grew up in a family of aviators. Both his father, James, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and his mother, Deloris, a housewife, were trained pilots and owned a single-engine plane that they flew as far as Alaska. They once took Jeffrey, the youngest of three brothers, with them on a transcontinental flight.

Mr. Skiles took time off from college to fly cargo planes out of Omaha, Neb., and then returned to Madison to complete his work for a bachelor’s degree in geology.

Because he sometimes flew Caribbean routes, Mr. Skiles and his wife had talked about the improbability of making a safe landing on water. Still, before Friday, Ms. Skiles felt the most dangerous part of his job was the drive to and from the airport.

[galaxy]

I fail to see how being a glider pilot would in any way help you to land on the moon...

You have only to try it.........
http://www.spacew.com/gallery/image005339.jpg

[FLYAIR10]

The A-320 with 150 pax on board had apparently only 3(three) cabin crew members? Would that be OK in Europe? Can not remember to have been on a flight with less than 4 CC and an equal number of PAX....What is the required number of CC in Europe?

[HighInTheSky]

The A-320 with 150 pax on board had apparently only 3(three) cabin crew members? Would that be OK in Europe? Can not remember to have been on a flight with less than 4 CC and an equal number of PAX....What is the required number of CC in Europe?

1 CCM per 50 pax (capacity, not load)

[DC3 Fan]

According to a WSJ article, the APU was running and providing electrical power during the descent.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123241485664396363.html

[luchtzak]

The A-320 with 150 pax on board had apparently only 3(three) cabin crew members? Would that be OK in Europe? Can not remember to have been on a flight with less than 4 CC and an equal number of PAX....What is the required number of CC in Europe?

I also think it should be 4 ccm in Belgium, but the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) must have given a 'go ahead' for operation with 3 flight attendants!

A very detailed report can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549

[Shanti]

A few years ago, i read min. 1 flight attendant for max. 50 passengers ,
also in Europe so it was not a problem. Only 150 passengers on board
but most of the time in an airbus 320 you see 4 to 6 cabin crew members.

[LX-LGX]

All passengers have received 5.000 USD for their lost luggage + ticket reimbursement. All items on board must be weighted by the NTSB, and it will therefore take months before personal belongings can be given back to the pax. Hence today's 5.000 USD.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/01/2 ... index.html

[LX-LGX]

CNN has a new video online, showing the last seconds of the water glide and the first 30 seconds of the evacuation.

Video only:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/01/23/hu ... nnSTCVideo

More news about that video:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/01/23/hu ... index.html

[luchtzak]

A friend mailed me pictures of the recovery of the ditched aircraft: http://coppermine.luchtzak.be/thumbnails-736.html

[boul]

Interesting articles emphasising the the value of gliding experience in aviation practice can be found in:

http://www.aopa.org/training/articles/2 ... c_sect=gan

In french :
http://www.lemonde.fr/opinions/article/ ... _3232.html

Amazing to see how belgian authorities, totaly unaware of this, are doing almost nothing to support glider training and practice for young people while they are crying as loud as they can that Belgium (and Europe) has to excell in technological matters...

[Desert Rat]

A320 on the rock's...

[DC3 Fan]

According to this article, the A320 "Ditch Switch" was not activated by the pilots before the water landing. It says the ditching checklist is 3 pages long and implies there was not enough time to go through it. It also says the APU may have been restarted in the effort to start an engine.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... ching.html

[LX-LGX]

Full transcript of communications between ground control and cockpit:

http://www.faa.gov/data_statistics/acci ... 20L116.pdf

[Desert Rat]

communication with ATC audio:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/0 ... 64219.html

[DC3 Fan]

Here's a link to video of Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger's TV interview Sunday evening. It's worth viewing!

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4784012n

[Passenger]

Sully - the movie: as from 9th September 2016:




http://sully-movie.com

https://facebook.com/sullymovie