Captain Sullenberger, "We're going to be in the Hudson."

[Equine_Woman]

I know we've talked about all this before but they just released the traffic tapes of Air Traffic Control and Flight 1549. It gave me cold chills so I thought I'd share a link to it.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/05/1549.voice.recorder.tape/index.html

A close family friend is a pilot for U.S. Airways and flies out of LaGuardia all the time. When I first heard about the plane in the Hudson I was so worried it was our friend. That pilot and copilot are amazing to me and true heroes. Anyways, it never hurts to remember miracles!

[WashingtonBay]

Had to chuckle at about 2 minutes... What do you need to land?

*** More altitude!*** Is what I would have said!



Great work. On both their parts really. Ability to change gears and keep thinking is a vital skill when you need it.

[Equine_Woman]

What amazes me is that that they were both so calm. And even after it appeared the worst had happened, the Air Traffic guy had to just keep working. Couldn't stop to freak out. Amazing stuff.

[WashingtonBay]

Indeed! You never really know if you've got the stuff to hold it together until you've been tested.

I'm always a little jealous of those who have been tested, because they know. :)


In my early flight training days... I had an engine quit on me in the landing pattern. It wasn't that simple really, I went to switch to the fullest tank per the checklist, and the handle came off in my hand, with the selector now set halfway between the tanks, not on either one... then the engine quit.

My instructor was an old war bird pilot, and what was remarkable is he told me to head for the runway, while he pulled out his leatherman and went about putting the thing back together. He had about 30 seconds to do this. And he did! Engine started up and we were on our way for more touch and goes. Good thing, because I would never have made the runway. And I don't think the adrenaline left me till we were on the ground. :)

[JackieB]

Incredible. Those top-level airline pilots are just incredible. The thing is, there really isn't a way to know exactly how someone will react in that situation until it happens. They train for it a lot of course, but when it's not simulated, all bets are off. Wow!

I fly gliders and I have read that his glider training (he is a glider pilot as well and flew gliders quite a bit when he was younger) may have helped him in this situation. It is drilled into glider pilots to not try to get somewhere that isn't within gliding distance, don't make turns too close to the ground, and so on. But it's still all more or less simulated.

Instructors try to surprise students with emergency situations as much as safely possible. The first time an instructor did it to me, my mind sort of exploded. He wrote down in my logbook that I did a satisfactory job, but I wasn't really happy with my performance and I was surprised at just how overwhelmed I felt. I did better in subsequent tests, but even those weren't the real thing.

Great job, Mr. Sullenberger!

[JackieB]

Indeed! You never really know if you've got the stuff to hold it together until you've been tested.

It's so true as I was just saying. All the training in the world is only part of it. There are good flight instructors who sometimes make really awful decisions in an emergency, and lower-time pilots who keep their cool.

I'd like to think that I could react well in such a situation (but no way would my voice be as calm as his, no matter what), but anyone who says they know for sure
probably either isn't being totally honest, or doesn't fully appreciate the difference between a real and simulated emergency.

[cowpuncher]

I'm not a pilot, but have a crapload of experience with working through emergency situaitons under pressure. The crew on this bird did a fabulous job, and I'd say it reflects extremely well on their training and intestinal fortitude.

The funny thing is, dealing well with emergencies is neither rare nor difficult. If you've been trained to deal with the situation at hand, you KNOW what to do. Once you realize (it usually doesn't take long in my experience) that you're in a "jackpot" the training takes over, simply because it has to.

Even those without training, tend to do better than they expect themselves to. It's human nature to survive, and we generally do a pretty good job at it. Generally......

[WashingtonBay]

Instructors try to surprise students with emergency situations as much as safely possible. The first time an instructor did it to me, my mind sort of exploded. He wrote down in my logbook that I did a satisfactory job, but I wasn't really happy with my performance and I was surprised at just how overwhelmed I felt. I did better in subsequent tests, but even those weren't the real thing.


Heh... one time I was working on my instrument rating, so I had the hood on. For non pilots... I'm talking about one of these:

http://pilotbrad.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/img_2622.jpg

They're designed to make you fly by instruments alone, simulating bad weather.

Instructor pulled the engine. Said "Engine out". I fumbled through the checklist and in the process, the hood was in the way and I took it off and through it in the back seat. I wasn't supposed to do that, it was supposed to be an IFR emergency. OK back to business, tried it again a couple more times.

Back at the school though, I convinced him my first reaction was actually the right one. He was the one thinking inside the box, not me. If bad things happen, take every advantage you can... and it would be stupid to crash a plane with an IFR hood still on. ;)

He didn't like my later joke when we were doing multi engine... He had me on approach with one engine already "out" and he asked "What would you do if the second engine failed right now? I said "Restart the good one!" LOL

[JackieB]

Back at the school though, I convinced him my first reaction was actually the right one.


I did that before. I haven't flown instruments, but I have been able to explain my actions in a way that has caused an instructor to say that he could stick with me because my decision-making process was sound.

Tee! Hee! on starting the new engine.

My dad being an old-timer who was used to taking off and landing on grass fields all the time was taking his BFR when the instructor pulled the engine to idle. Dad came down over a farmer's field and was absolutely going to land right there. :) The instructor finally said "You aren't actually going to land here, are you?" My dad was like "Yes, of course, I don't have an engine." :)

[vicklynn]

Great communication from all parties. Gave me chills.

Reminds me of working Flight Ops on Ft Lewis though. Man, when you have things happening, your adrenalin just pops. There is no time to think of the what ifs, only how to do what your doing to keep things in order.
Flight Ops is not ATC, but we are right below, or near, them and deal with what is going on during that time. Flight Ops and ATC work hand in hand, just do different jobs.
Man I miss the airfield.

[WashingtonBay]

Even those without training, tend to do better than they expect themselves to. It's human nature to survive, and we generally do a pretty good job at it. Generally......

I think, and hope that this is true. I've certainly had a lot of unrehearsed tense moments in life and did pretty well most of the time at not making things worse.

In emergency training in airplanes, it's stressful, which is good, but it's the wrong kind of stress, the wrong kind of mindset. We're worried about the instructor watching, and whether we're doing OK on the test, it's not true survival, it's ego. And that clouds your thinking. When it's real, I think our instincts are actually better, and our thinking and priorities much more clear.

[lovesfortune]

wow, WB I think I would have passed out I landed on that first experience... and then never gotten back in a plane again.

[outriding01]

That was pretty cool to listen to. He was just so matter-of-fact about the whole thing.

My mom always tells me I should become a surgeon because I think really quick and stay cool in emergencies. I tell her I don't want to do that much school, I'll just be a racecar driver :) My dad used to race street stock and is going to start teaching me this summer. I've seriously considered training as jockey before, but I'd like to at least get my bachelor's first....

[Sundays Man]

There are 2 types of people in emergencies. Those that fall apart and can't put a rational thought together and those that become so focused on the task at hand they are oblivious to the danger. You see it in pilots, soldiers in battle and even on the highways when cars hydroplane or an accident is about to occur. Time slows down and the mind seems to kick into another dimension. Amazing what some people can do under pressure.

[Buckpoco]

Wow that gives you the chills!!!!

[mare]

That was cool. No, wait, they were cool! Great job!

[cloedoll]

Wow, that was...crazy to listen to.