Us air washed their plane 15 years ago

Post by **abscate** » 12 Jan 2024, 04:29

12 years ago today…

“Cactus 1549, turn right for Runway 4 Teterboro.”

“ Unable. we are going to be in the Hudson”

Listening to the ATC and cockpit VCR gives me great comfort when I fly out of any port but especiallyLGA

Fun fact, Jeff Skiles , the co-pilot , had type certified on the A320 the previous Friday. That’s training.

I was on a return flight from IAD ALB and looked down amd saw the plane in the River from above

Post by **BlackBart** » 12 Jan 2024, 09:31

Wow…

Post by **abscate** » 12 Jan 2024, 17:02

I think it was 15 years ago, will check

Post by **foggydogg** » 15 Jan 2024, 09:18

Cleared the GW bridge by less than 900 feet.
They flew for 90 seconds after the bird strike.

The raw cockpit voice recordings are never released by NTSB; this website overlays the transcript onto the flightpath, along with actual ATC radio and landline voice. This is only an average amount of radio traffic in busy airspace.

Post by **BlackBart** » 15 Jan 2024, 09:28

Wow. And the checklist is having them wait 30 seconds before the next step…

This is completely uneducated hindsight, but if they had not had him make that big turn south, could he had glided farther NW to some small airfield?

Post by **volvolugnut** » 15 Jan 2024, 09:47

I am very impressed the pilot made the 135 degree turn, missed the bridge, and landed in the river in 90 seconds.
volvolugnut

Post by **foggydogg** » 15 Jan 2024, 13:01

BlackBart wrote: ↑15 Jan 2024, 09:28 Wow. And the checklist is having them wait 30 seconds before the next step…

This is completely uneducated hindsight, but if they had not had him make that big turn south, could he had glided farther NW to some small airfield?

Both NTSB and FAA put journeyman crews in the simulator and ran the flight profile. One (1 !) crew that turned back instantly with obvious prior knowledge and without running any checklists made it. The rest all crashed. NTSB concluded the action this crew took was the only survivable scenario.

Post by **BlackBart** » 15 Jan 2024, 14:25

The wiki and other reports tell me both engines were severely damaged by Canadian Geese and would not be able to restart. The checklist was 3 pages long and they couldn’t get through it.

The Airbus computer-guided controls helped maintain stability while they attempted restart, but Sully remarked it didn’t allow him to flare like he wanted to at the end (he was an expert glider pilot and instructor).

The impact tore off one engine, most of the flaps, tore holes in the belly, and ripped off the cargo doors below. But it had a light fuel load and empty, buoyant tanks - the reason it stayed mostly up through the rescue.

Post by **abscate** » 18 Jan 2024, 11:16

The software probably made the landing harder but dont discount the fact that even an expert glider cant glide a loaded Airbus by seat of the pants flying. The software enabled control of the plane on the glidepath without stalling and kept the control needed for aligning for the ditching.

There were no alternate airports close enough for landing, TET was the only one.

If he had turned East and landed around Hells Gate, the survivability of the pax would have been a low lower

Post by **Blacklab467** » 18 Jan 2024, 16:12

I've tried it four times in an FAA certified Level D Falcon 2000 simulator, its not easy! Note that this airplane has a much better glide ratio than an A320. Almost nobody would be able to reproduce their performance that day. Even if you do get the airplane turned around and lined up you still have to dodge boats on the Hudson.