If You Think You’re Chilly Today…
By Mitch Berg
…at least be thanksful you didn’t take an unexpected dip. A US Airways plane, disabled by a flock of birds, has apparently conducted a successful crash landing in the Hudson River.
According to [a reporter on the scene], survivors told her that about two minutes after takeoff, a loud “boom” was heard and the plane began descending. She reported seeing a flight attendant being taken away on a stretcher, though she said it appeared that was among the more serious injuries.
“It was just going down further and further and further and then all of a sudden it was gone,” a witness named Peter Chinchino told CBS 2. “I’m shaking, it was crazy. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There was nothing wrong with the plane, it wasn’t wobbling, there was no smoke coming out of it!”
No deaths reported yet.
Those must be some amazing pilots; jets aren’t built to be specacularly-efficient gliders.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
All crash landings are successful! 🙂
January 15th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
They do glide though. Engine out landings are part of the training we do in the full motion simulators. The hard part is keeping calm when you know you might just bite it in a few seconds.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
I wonder if a certain clown was making his annual pilfriage to Barraboo?
January 15th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
I’m amazed at how long the sucker floated.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
I’m guessing that the seals on pressurized compartments & any air in the fuel tanks probably kept it floating for a good while.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Even full fuel tanks should be bouyant (sp?). Kerosene/jet fuel is lighter than water.
Nice work by the pilots.
I was in a 737 many years ago that made an emergency, head between the legs, landing. Those pilots greased it in too, and we all walked away unhurt.
Most of the pilots of the big planes are real professionals.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
They do glide though.
Someone in the field once told me that a typical jet has “the gliding characteristics of a brick”.
No, I know they glide; just not well, gracefully or far.
Engine out landings are part of the training we do in the full motion simulators.
Good thing, too!
January 15th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
““the gliding characteristics of a brick”. — you’re thinking jet fighter.
Glide ratio of 10:1 or so, but I don’t think this plane ever got very high to begin with.
January 15th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
No, I know they glide; just not well, gracefully or far.
That is all true. This happened on takeoff & they landed at about 48th street in Manhattan, I’d guestimate that they had 3 minutes or less between bird strike & touchdown to assess the situation, make a decision & land it. It’s nothing I’d like to try! Kudos to those guys!
Jet A is about 1.5 pounds lighter than water, so yes it’d lend to the overall buoyancy of the plane, but probably not much more than what i’d take to float the weight of the fuel tank itself. I’m guessing that on a flight from LGA to CLT, the tanks were about 2/3 to 3/4 full. I don’t fly an Airbus, so I don’t know for sure, but that sounds about right.
Of course, I could bring up the fact that the A-320 is made in France…
January 15th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Also, the pilot is ex-Airforce, flew fighter jets and was one well-trained, level-headed individual. An American hero, twice over.
January 15th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
THE pilot???? There are two! 😉
January 16th, 2009 at 5:50 am
Kermite said: “Also, the pilot is ex-Airforce, flew fighter jets and was one well-trained, level-headed individual. An American hero, twice over.”
The guy’s an obvious hot-dog, just like McCain. The real heroes are the guys who can manage to keep their planes up in the SKY.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:03 am
I hear PETA wants to rename geese to “surface to air kittens”
January 16th, 2009 at 10:09 am
The PETA campaign has Angryclown thinking about eating cats, Master.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:33 am
I’d really REALLY like to see AC take a 15 pound goose to the forehead at 270 miles per hour & see him “keep it in the air”!
McCain had a habit of running out of gas, that is preventable, Geese just happen.
January 16th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
There’s an internet site where you can listen to the control tower for selected airports. Not long ago, I heard the tower in Rochester, Minnesota direct a plane to go around because of a flock of Canada geese on the runway.
Not sure what the cure for that is. I’m guessing airport maintenance breaks out that giant snowblower truck. That, or the 12-gauges.
.
January 16th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
12 gauges, noise cannons…
Geese are better on the ground though, as long as they are in the grass. Here’s what happens when you get a goose in the engine:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/JT8D_Engine_after_Bird_Strike.jpg
All those bits & pieces of fan blades & goose chunks go through the engine & really fowl things up.
I know, bad pun.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
That is not so bad. Merely reduce turbine speed from 50,000 RPM to 5 RPM and she’ll purr right along. Might loose a bit of thrust, though. Just dial the other engine up to 500,000,000 RPM to compensate and you’ll be back to flirting with the stewardesses in no time.
January 16th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
I know you’re kidding, but these planes fly fine on one engine. It’s when you get two of these that sucks!