U.S. Airways Plane Crashed in the Hudson River

[OIFDan]

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[Comsmith22]

Blessings and Prayers... to all

[olhamada]

Yeah, I'm sitting here at LGA waiting to get out. I think one of my friends was on the flight - trying to confirm. Amazing bit of piloting and EMS response - all on board survived. Evidently lost both engines at FL 32 and made an incredible landing without touching a wing to the water. Simply incredible.

[SRGross]

Salute to the pilots, no LOSE of Life!

[Comsmith22]

the Pilot was an old fast mover Driver ( F-4's) ... and set it down it the best place possible...
I'll take water over concrete any day...

[Defender968]

Kudos to the pilot for giving the passengers a chance sounds like he/she did a hell of a job putting her down in the water.

Thoughts out to the passengers and their families.

[Gypsy]

The responders were quick...and the pilot left no one behind, making sure all were off the aircraft before he left it himself. Well done all around.

[Shar]

Reading the articles and seeing the photographs make me hyper-ventilate a little. It appears there were some good leaders on board getting everyone out in an orderly manner which I'm sure helped matters. I'm regularly flying alone with my kids and it really makes me panic to think about a situation like this one with people having to evacuate a plane in the water and me having to deal with 3 non-swimmer kids amidst a lot of people freaking out. I guess I've always thought that if we went down, that would be it - quick and painless. For some reason, this scenario is much more frightening to me.

I seriously applaud the pilot for all of his actions. Good man. I'll just pray that whenever I fly, I get a guy like him up front.

[AngelsSix]

Hudson River hero is ex-Air Force fighter pilot
By AMY WESTFELDT, Associated Press Writer Amy Westfeldt, Associated Press Writer Fri Jan 16, 4:31 am ET

NEW YORK – The pilot who guided a crippled US Airways jetliner safely into the Hudson River — saving all 155 people aboard — became an instant hero Thursday, with accolades from the mayor and governor and a fan club online.

The pilot of Flight 1549 was Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, 57, of Danville, Calif., an official familiar with the accident told The Associated Press. Sullenberger is a former fighter pilot who runs a safety consulting firm in addition to flying commercial aircraft.

Sullenberger, who has flown for US Airways since 1980, flew F-4 fighter jets with the Air Force in the 1970s. He then served on a board that investigated aircraft accidents and participated later in several National Transportation Safety Board investigations.

Sullenberger had been studying the psychology of keeping airline crews functioning even in the face of crisis, said Robert Bea, a civil engineer who co-founded UC Berkeley's Center for Catastrophic Risk Management.

Bea said he could think of few pilots as well-situated to bring the plane down safely than Sullenberger.

"When a plane is getting ready to crash with a lot of people who trust you, it is a test.. Sulley proved the end of the road for that test. He had studied it, he had rehearsed it, he had taken it to his heart."

Sullenberger is president of Safety Reliability Methods, a California firm that uses "the ultra-safe world of commercial aviation" as a basis for safety consulting in other fields, according to the firm's Web site.

Sullenberger's mailbox at the firm was full on Thursday. A group of fans sprang up on Facebook within hours of the emergency landing.

"OMG, I am terrified of flying but I would be happy to be a passenger on one of your aircraft!!" Melanie Wills in Bristol wrote on the wall of "Fans of Sully Sullenberger." "You have saved a lot of peoples lives and are a true hero!!"

The pilot "did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river and then making sure that everybody got out," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "He walked the plane twice after everybody else was off, and tried to verify that there was nobody else on board, and he assures us there was not."

"He was the last one up the aisle and he made sure that there was nobody behind him."

Gov. David Paterson pronounced it a "miracle on the Hudson."

A woman who answered the phone at Sullenberger's home in Danville hung up on a reporter who asked to speak with the family.

Candace Anderson, a member of the Danville town council who lives a few blocks from Sullenberger, said it was an amazing story and she was proud to live in the same town as the pilot.

"You look at his training, you look at his experience. It was just the right pilot at the right time in charge of that plane that saved so many lives," Anderson said. "He is a man who is calm, cool, collected, just as he was today."

Sullenberger's co-pilot was Jeff Skiles, 49, of Oregon, Wis., a 23-year US Airways veteran.

"He was OK," said his wife, Barbara. "He was relieved that everybody got off."

[RTK]

Check out at about the 1 minute mark of this NBC Chicago video interview of one of the passengers who helped get others, including a 6 month old baby and his mother, out of harms way.

A question with words to the effect "Were women and children evacuated first?"

You already know the answer.

[Comsmith22]

It appears that the folks closest to the exits were the first and folks followed normal "unassing" procedures ... and the Pilot and co-Pilot were the last out after making sure there was no one left on board...

[echoes]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009...airways_f.html

Hero of the Hudson: Pilot of US Airways Flight 1549 saved every passenger with miracle landing

DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Updated Friday, January 16th 2009, 9:09 AM

"To friends and family, he's just "Sully." To the rest of the world, Chesley Sullenberger is now a miracle worker with a pilot's license.
The former Air Force fighter pilot remained cool, calm and collected both before and after successfully ditching his US Airways flight into the Hudson River.

"That pilot is a stud," said one police source. "After the crash, he was sitting there in the ferry terminal, wearing his hat, sipping his coffee and acting like nothing happened."

Sullenberger, 57, looks more like Clark Kent than Superman: He's balding, slightly built, with a thin mustache. But he emerged from the slowly sinking fuselage of Flight 1549 as one of Gotham's brightest heroes, able to land engineless airplanes in a single try.

"Brace for impact," he warned the passengers before ditching the plane, a voice of lone calm in the seconds before they crashed.
Sullenberger wasn't done once his plane was down. He undid his safety belt and walked the length of the plane to make sure all the passengers were safely outside, Mayor Bloomberg said.

Once finished, Sullenberger turned around and made a second pass as the plane steadily took on water - and only then did he finally exit."

This is an incredible story. Thoughts out to the pilot and crew!

Also just watched Mayor Bloomberg on Fox handing out awards to some very deserving rescue operators!
Was wondering if anyone else caught it?

Holly

[echoes]

whoops...

[Pete]

Originally Posted by RTK

......You already know the answer.

Something about water. Lots of non-swimmers around. Look out the window and see water - thats it - head for the exit.

Lots of exits on a plane. Most head for the same door they came in.

When I get on an aircraft I like the read the little book about the aircraft, look up and spot the nearest exits. Sometimes its behind you.

[PSM]

Originally Posted by Pete

[...] look up and spot the nearest exits. Sometimes its behind you.

I make sure it's next to me. I like the extra leg room (and I'm, only 5' 6") and the seat in front of me does not recline.

Pat