Flight 1549; A debt of Gratitude...

[amicus]

On Discovery Channel, new, 03/04/09, "Hudson Plane Crash"

Watch it if you get a chance; extremely well done and presented.

A documentary, but it views like tight fiction, with building suspense even though you know the outcome.

Passenger interviews, rescue boat interviews, Tower communications, the whole thing and how 'the system' responded is a marvelous tribute to all involved.

Good goin guys~!

Amicus

 

[DesertPirate]

Everything "just worked" and to perfection. The skippers of the ferry's that saw the need and filled it with such skill, outstanding boat handling!

A pilot so well trained that he did everything in the only way that gave them a chance.
Passengers who didn't panic, wow!

I am impressed by all involved.

 

[Liar]

Passengers who didn't panic, wow!

I remember hearing one of the stewards mentioning that one passenger did panic, and opened a submerged rear emergency door or something like that, causing the plane to flood much faster.

That they all got out and off into boats in time in spite of that is even cooler.

 

[amicus]

They didn't have that on the program I watched. They did have one passenger who had to jump from the front exit because a raft didn't inflate right away, he started swimming the half mile to shore but changed his mind and swam back to the plane.

I was greatly impressed by the presentation and by the event itself and felt an added tribute was in order.

It could have gone so bad.

Amicus...

 

[TxRad]

Above all, the key to the whole thing was a pilot who was an avid sailplane pilot. His experience with powerless flight gave him the edge in getting the plane into the water in one piece. Keeping a plane that size at 11 degrees at 150 knots is a remarkable piece of flying. A couple of degrees either way would have torn the plane apart.

 

[Belegon]

I know that the pilot says he was only doing his job... but he did it extremely well and he saved many lives in the process. Sorry, Sully. You save the lives of over 150 people, you are a hero in my book, whether you want the praise or not. Even more so because you don't want it.

And although the majority of the attention is on him, the whole flight crew was heroic in their fulfillment of the responsibility they had been entrusted with. They are all heroes.

 

[amicus]

Just an aside...I have a novel, as yet unpublished, been working on it for years, that includes an ocean ditching of a commercial aircraft. I did the research of course, even talked to an airline pilot, but that eleven degree up angle was the first time I had heard that; I just had a nose high attitude.

I had mine bounce slightly, lift up and fall back, but viewing the films of this crash, it did not rise again after touching down. And, 'stall speed', is another confirmation. mine also slewed around and lost a wing...but it is fiction so I guess thas all right.

Amicus...

 

[TxRad]

Just an aside...I have a novel, as yet unpublished, been working on it for years, that includes an ocean ditching of a commercial aircraft. I did the research of course, even talked to an airline pilot, but that eleven degree up angle was the first time I had heard that; I just had a nose high attitude.

I had mine bounce slightly, lift up and fall back, but viewing the films of this crash, it did not rise again after touching down. And, 'stall speed', is another confirmation. mine also slewed around and lost a wing...but it is fiction so I guess thas all right.

Amicus...

An ocean ditching would be different because of the waves on the surface. High spots that tend to grab the engines and rip the plane into three pieces. Also the waves aren't even heights so the wing could hit a high wave even though the plane is level. The Hudson river was perfectly flat for all intents and purposes.

the 11 degrees is the angle on the plane he was flying that allows the engines to touch without digging in. Less angle and the plane is ripped apart by the engines grabbing the water. More than 11 and the tail slaps first which will break the plane in half by nosediving it or pancaking it into the water.

 

[amicus]

That approximate 11 degrees seems to be critical...one can fudge a little in creating a scene, I had minimum wave action for that very reason, two foot smooth swells and a surface craft that radio'd wind speed and direction and sea condition, but, yes, very good point about wave height and direction and catching the engine nacelle's (izzat the right word?)....but...as I recall, both engines were indeed ripped off the wings in the crash? Or maybe only one, not sure now that I think of it...

Ami

 

[amicus]

The Documentary is being aired again as I type....Discovery Channel and it is indeed worth watching again as little frisson's raced up and down my arms as the entire system of air traffic control, pilot expertise, communications, the flight personnel, 9/11 operators, people in general in the boats and rescue squads all performed with excellence.

Hudson Plane Crash, What Really Happened, is the title.

Amicus...