OK. Ask me about the Hudson River ditching.

[trof]

I will answer all questions.
Some answers may even be accurate.
35+ years a pilot.
7 military, 30 with TWA.
(There was some overlap. ;-))
Ask away.
:-)

[BrklynLiberal]

1. In your opinion was that an amazing landing? Should that pilot be hailed as a hero?

[trof]

12. Yes, amazing. Probably, but hero is not a term we're comfortable with.

I have often thought that if I were in the same situation he was I'd have done what he did.

In an airplane with under wing engines (Like Airbusses, Boeings), ditching usually means a break up of the aircraft. The engines act as big scoops. As soon as they hit, especially at high speed, the aircraft would tend to nose over and break up.

Never been faced with a ditching, but I always thought I'd slow the aircraft as much as possible, get it right down on the deck a few feet above the water, and as the airspeed bled off, honk the nose up to stall it out, hit the water tail first as slow as possible, continue to hold the nose off with full back yoke, until the nose fell and the engines finally hit the water, hopefully at about zero airspeed.

If you were able to follow the above, that's what I think he did.

Damn good job.

[jobycom]

21. You might think you'd do that, but he did that. I'd say he'd better get comfortable

with the word 'hero,' because he'll hear it a lot in the next few weeks, before we move on.

I did follow that, actually. I've got just enough flying experience (which is about 10 hours more than none). But in any situation, a person can know the right thing to do, but when they've only got one chance and none of it is theory anymore, actually doing it is not so easy. He did it. I wouldn't say he's the only guy who could, and yes, some of it was just following training and theoretical concepts others developed. But still, he kept it together, he did everything right, he put theory into practice, and 155 people walked away because of it.

We need heroes. Shows us all why we need to be prepared and keep our cools under pressure. And shows us all we can. Just in case we're ever in the situation where we have to be.

[trof]

27. Don't know if I could have pulled it off.

I just think we think alike.
I'm sure he will be hailed as a hero.
And I'm just as sure that he won't think of himself as one.

[jobycom]

34. Probably quite true. "Just doin' my job, Good Folks." Which of course

will make people like him more. :)

[KoKo]

23. You are "downplaying the heroics of this pilot" like my relative who is an AA Pilot who

when I called and was raving about this pilot's skills...kind of tried to talk me down.

Whatever...to the folks out here watching this and for "white knuckle flyers" like me..this pilot deserves some big Kudo's.

I never understand why Pilots seem to not take credit for good stuff. My relative dissed me once by saying "A Monkey could fly an Airplane, today." Sheesh I would never diss my profession that way ...no matter what I did.

:shrug:

[NashVegas]

33. I'd Say 'Hero' If Only Because Everyone Lived

Sounds accurate.

[Poll_Blind]

2. Is it true the plane stayed afload because of big inflatable boobies on the undercarriage?

PB

[BrklynLiberal]

3. I have to laugh....

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Bozita]

5. Rose Royce has big'uns

[Poll_Blind]

7. And I hear them Rose Royce's got lots of thrust!

PB

[trof]

13. No. Because an airplane is airtight.

If they had opened no doors it would still be floating.

[NMDemDist2]

4. that pilot freakin RAWKED didn't he???

my dad was a pro pilot for 40 years (22 USAF & 18 as Corporate pilot in small jets)

:hi:

[trof]

14. I think he was very lucky AND did an excellent job.

[Esra Star]

6. Did he get the engines to hit the water in sync.

If so, how much luck is involved?

[trof]

16. If you mean at the same time, I don't know.

If you mean at the same thrust setting, it sounds like they were both damaged by bird ingestion.
And I'm only going by what I hear on CNN.
:eyes:

[Esra Star]

26. Yes, I mean at the same time, it seems to me

that if they dug in seperately, the plane would have skewed and a wing may have torn off.
Is there any video?

[trof]

28. One eyewitness said it yawed.

I'm sure we'll learn more soon.

[MichaelHarris]

8. Did

God's hands take control of the plane or did his hands shove the geese into the engine?

[trof]

17. Oh, both, I'm sure. Or maybe neither.

:rofl:

[MichaelHarris]

24. I harkin back to the sayings

"God is my co-pilot", and "there are no atheists in foxholes". It also reminds me that, everyone experiencing great sex has to be a Christian, why else would they keep asking for the supreme being?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

9. How fast do you reckon they were going when they hit the water?

Which is a roundabout way of asking, "how the hell are they all not dead?"

[trof]

18. 140-150 knots. Maybe a little slower.

[Suich]

10. Since this is in GD, I'm assuming you're serious.

Both engines went out, right? How far did he "glide" before he went in the water?

Thank you!

[trof]

19. Yes, I am. No way of knowing that.

Depends on his altitude and airspeed when he hit the birds.

[TahitiNut]

29. The engines "deep throated" the geese (made goose smoothies?) at 3200'.

At that point, the 320 became a flying brick.

[ecstatic]

11. Could the pilot have made it to the airport, in your opinion? nt

[trof]

20. Too soon to tell, but I seriously doubt it.

I mean, if he could have, why wouldn't he?
Think about it.

[machI]

15. Was the passenger compartment penetrated by any of the turbine blades?

[trof]

22. Let me look into my crystal ball...

Are you serious?
How would I know?
Is it POSSIBLE that happened?
Sure.
NTSB investigation should tell.

[trof]

25. OK, the time I ate a bird.

747 cargo, GE engines, out of SFO one morning we ate a sea gull.
Had no idea what had happened, just noticed some vibration.
Could not locate the source of the vibration, except that it seemed to be coming from the left side of the aircraft.

At our final altitude, when we pulled the engines back to cruise power, the vibration disappeared.

At our destination (Anchorage) I told maintenance about our experience.
Inspection on the ground found that the number 2 engine had ingested a bird (probably a gull) which had taken out a few fan blades, but done surprisingly little damage to the turbine blades.

Now a Canada goose, if that's what they hit, is a LOT bigger than a sea gull and would do a hell of a lot more damage.

[Gwendolyn]

30. How come the cockpit is so dusty?

:)

[Mrs. Overall]

31. Does this mean that Airbus planes are built better than Boeing planes?

Was part of the successful landing the fact that the plane was built well enough not to fall apart upon impact with the water?

One more question that my son asked--Can't they put some sort of screen over the engines so that birds can't be sucked in?

[Muttocracy]

32. Same question as your son crossed my mind

:hi:

[trof]

37. No, I don't think so.

A 757 would probably be capable of the same thing.
I did fly a fighter (RF-84) that had retractable inlet screens for flying out of unimproved fields.
Sounded good in theory, but in practice the screens greatly degrade thrust.
And whatever hits the screen stays there, blocking airflow to the engine inlet.
Many times a jet engine can ingest smaller items with no noticeable loss of thrust.
See mt sea gull story.

[hfojvt]

35. My question is: did anything else happen today?

I am watching the re-runs of KeithO and Rachel and it's plane, plane, plane, plane, like they are Tatoo or something. Aren't these political news shows? Do I really need to see an interview with one of the passengers babysitters or grade school teachers?

Speaking of Tatoo, did you hear that Ricardo Montalban died yesterday? He's probably up in heaven now and Herve is driving him crazy talking about "The plane. The plane."

[krispos42]

36. Would the pilot have dumped the fuel load to lighten the plane?

Would he have had time to?

[trof]

38. I'm told Airbusses don't have fuel dump capability.

Never flown one, but a friend who's still in the business tells me that.
I wouldn't be comfortable with that.
I've had to dump fuel (747) twice and I was very glad I had that capability.

If he could have gotten lighter in a hurry, he might have been able to extend his range enough to make a runway somewhere.
Emphasis on "might".