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From what I see right now on NY1, Circle Line boats have come to the crash site to pull survivors from the water. That’s US Airways 1549 out of LGA bound for Charlotte.
Hope everyone’s okay out there. Everybody, call your families.
ETA: Sounds like everyone got off the plane. Well done, pilots and Circle Line/rescue personnel.
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http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/01/plane-reported-down-in-hudson-river.html
They’re saying everyone got off the plane – I can only imagine how much worse this could’ve been, if that plane had hit land instead of water.
I hope they all make it – that water must be absolutely frigid.
NY1 put water temps at 42, which sadly sounded relatively balmy compared to the air temperature, but you’d only last a few minutes in water that cold.
That’s scary. I keep thinking about how close to land they were.
Word so far is that everyone’s okay; thank goodness they hit water and not the highway. Could’ve been much uglier.
I had a view of this from my office – what’s most encouraging is how quickly the rescue got underway, and how smoothly everything (and everyone) worked. Also a pilot acquaintance described the emergency landing as textbook-perfect. So – a scary afternoon, but also sort of reassuring, in a weird way.
Note to self: Listen to the damn safety instructions next time you fly.
Sounds like the flight attendants did their job and the passengers listened. Excellent job, everyone.
Also, I heard that the pilot was instructed to put her down in the river since there’s really no other place for an emergency landing around there. I can’t imagine how scary that must have been, but thank God everyone’s all right!
One of the thoughts I had, seeing the video of the ferries going to the rescue, is that one of the things I really think has developed in New York is a sense of just…jumping in and doing whatever, and not waiting to be asked. People just kind of assume that Something May Happen and you may have to intervene, so they just kind of…do. I’m not suggesting the ferries don’t have some official plan, because I’m sure they do, but I think reaction time has really dropped. Folks are like, “Okay, that happened, now what?”
From what I heard on the news, it sounds like the pilots and flight crew executed their emergency plans to the letter. Excellent job. It also looked like every available boat in the vicinity rushed to the scene to assist the passengers, what an awesome sight to see.
The pilot is a real hero since it is really difficult to land an aircraft in the water without serious injuries or loss of life. Bravo, Sully!
On a personal note, my sister called me at around 3:45 to say “I’m okay.” and I was all, “Uh, great!” and she had to tell me about the crash, then it hit me…my sister was flying US Air out of NY at about the same time…
Thankfully she flew out of a different airport…so, whew.
Here’s an article on the pilot from Gawker.
Sullenberger for Senator!
It’s times like this that I realize people how awesome people are. A plethora of boats going to help, a pilot who did the best water landing ever, and no one dying.
Thank you, Universe. It’s nice to see people doing good things.
I know I’m stupid to feel this way, but I actually got really upset watching the news. The newsfolk kept speculating and spinning and it reminded me so much of the continuous talking after the towers fell.
Even now, thinking about it, I start to well up for no good reason. I was lucky that day. My friends and family were all safe. My step-fathers plane landed safely. I was relatively untouched by a huge tragedy in a community that lost hundreds.
So, any one else crazy?
I’m here in Charlotte where this is really big news… such a relief to know that everyone is ok. Amazing rescue. Thank you, New York!
I may have to revise my irrational fear of ferry boats. Not enough to ride one, mind you, but I will stop bad-mouthing them. Seriously, snaps to the pilot, crew, rescuers, and passengers. Well-played, my friends, well-played.
Obviously, Steven Colbert needs to move geese to the top of the threatdown list, replacing bears.
It’s so nice to see good news for a change. Well done, everyone!
“I’m not suggesting the ferries don’t have some official plan, because I’m sure they do…”
~ ~ Linda
I heard one of the ferry pilots on the radio this morning and he said that they practice this sort of thing (I think it’s for when they need to rescue people from other watercraft) once every few weeks or so. They also do “man overboard” drills twice a month.
“Thank you, New York!”
~ ~ Sweetie Darling
From one New Yorker (who had absolutely nothing to do with events yesterday), you’re quite welcome. As alanna & Linda said NYers just do what needs doing. Having said that, I think that it’s better to say that people – from anywhere – just do what needs doing.
As alanna noted, the ferry pilots and crews deserve a huge amount of credit for the speed with which they mobilized. One small story out of yesterday was that of Brittany Catanzaro – she’s a 20 year old ferry Captain. She’s got 5 months on the job. I think it’s an interesting career choice for a young lady, probably because, when I think about ferry pilots/captains I think of older men, usually with beards.
More here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090116/ap_on_re_us/plane_splashdown_rescue_1
From what I’ve read, the pilot did a spectacular job – and he was the right pilot to have for this. It sounds as if he had excellent backup all around.
I’m really happy for the families of all involved.
Not to detract from everyone else’s story, but I was just thinking of being a passenger on one of those ferries. “Yeah, sorry I’m home late, the ferry had to stop and pick up passengers from a crashed plane…Yeah, I threw out a couple life jackets.”
@Brenda- I had some 9/11 flashbacks too yesterday, and felt pretty shakey for a bit. BUT, in this case, everyone lived and once again people proved they will step up and “do what needs doing.”
And I really want some major recognition for the rescue crews, the ferry boat folks, and the pilot who made the best. water. landing. ever!
“So, any one else crazy?”
A little bit, yeah. :-)
I have a pretty low opinion of the general public most of the time, and then something will happen & people will shine so brightly it makes me squint & get big fat tears in my eyes. I choke up every time I look at the footage of this crash because people were just so awesome under pressure.
(((((((((((((((((Brenda)))))))))))))))))) (that’s a big hug.)
Sandy said: “Obviously, Steven Colbert needs to move geese to the top of the threatdown list, replacing bears.”
Hahaha!! Glad we can have a chuckle about this. I didn’t see TCR late last night, but I’ll watch the rerun this evening.
As an engineer, I’m still flabergasted that the A320 didn’t snag an engine upon hitiing the water and either a.) rip the wings off or b.) do a cartwheel. I also wonder how the Captain maintained any control. I’m guessing A320’s have a backup power system for controlling flaps, rudder, etc.
Maybe LaGuardia needs to take a lesson from MSP (incidentally adjacent to a huge wetland/bird sanctuary full of geese, herons, loons, swans, storks, etc.,) which apparently has a great record for keeping birds away with the lamest, yet cutest, method I’ve ever heard: one stuffed coyote, moved from place to place around the runways every day.
I would hope that one requirement for being a river captain is safety and rescue training, although mostly it would be for helping other boats. But not always, especially where rivers run through cities and all sorts of things end up in the water. I have friends who were on a party boat a couple hundred yards away when the 35W bridge fell – the captain and everyone on board wanted to go help, but the boat was in a lock and the lock-keepers were instructed not to open it because they couldn’t release all that extra water into the situation. Luckily there were scores of landlubbers and a well-prepared emergency response program for the city to do the job the lone party boat couldn’t. :-)
From alanna:
“Also a pilot acquaintance described the emergency landing as textbook-perfect.”
Yep. If Captain Sullenberger were still in the Air Force, they’d be falling all over themselves to hand him a Distinguished Flying Cross right now. Bravo, sir.
@SteveL: It’s my understanding that the pilot (Chesley Burnett Sullenberger III – how cool is that??) is actually a specialist in emergencies, and has a safety consulting firm called Safety Reliability Methods, and had been studying the psychology of keeping airline crews functioning even in the face of crisis. It was absolutely the right man in the right place at a terrible time.
And in three years he faces mandatory retirement. *sigh*
I would be very happy to help donate towards a stuffed coyote to trundle around the airport to scare the geese away! Very cost effective – the highways, alack, probably provide enough coyotes for stuffing – and just a fright for the birds.
And they could paint silhouettes of eagles on the runways, too, to frighten off the birds.
And because I am Completely Shallow, Captain Sully even looks heroic.
And apparently, this is the first time in history that a U.S. commercial plane ever performed a water landing. So, that’s even more amazing.
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/Americas/2009/jan/Lessons-From-82-Disaster-Aided-Hudson-River-Crash-Pilots.html
First, I wave at the other slightly crazy/fragile folk from Seattle, flight 1549’s intended destination. Which–some of those brave bad-asses got on another plane last night and rolled in, here, round midnight. I don’t think I myself would have gotten out of the pants-wetting phase just yet!
But yeah. I can’t hit the wastebasket with a tissue from six feet, so Captain Sully is as gifted a pilot as I can conceive of, and deserves every single accolade people are lining up to bestow.
And I too teared up somehow at the pictures of the ferries and tugs and, what, Circle Line tour boats?–steaming out there full-tilt boogie simply because That Is What To Do, in a crisis. That, and the passengers standing in line on the WING of the DOWNED JET bobbing in the RIVER, wearing their little blow-up vests and appearing patient and calm, at least from a distance. Well played, every one of ’em.
Kudos to “Sully” but also to the other pilot and the flight crew.
To quote Patrick Smith in his column at salon.com “there were two pilots in the cockpit — a captain and a first officer. Both were fully qualified to operate the aircraft in all regimes of flight, and both are responsible for the outcome.”
The pilot and co-pilot (who is Jeff Skiles, 49, according to MSNBC) did an amazing job. Big, big bravos to both of them and the flight crew for doing an exceptional job. I have to fly tomorrow and weirdly enough, I feel more calm than I usually do after seeing all of that yesterday.
@ SteveL, I saw a report today that said both of the engines are missing from the plane. Is it possible that the bird strike caused the engine blades to disentegrate, which might have caused the engines to come loose from their mountings and easily shear off when the plane hit the water? I was wondering if maybe that was a possible reason why the wings didn’t rip off when they hit the water. I’ve seen pictures of the plane seconds before it hit the water but not right as it hit the water and the engines are still attached. I’m just wondering how violent the impact was at this point and I’m still amazed that the plane floated for that long.
@Kim–Hi! *Waves from Seattle*
@Jenny–according to the paper, the make of plane they were on was actually designed to seal up its lower part and stay relatively bouyant in case of a water landing. And apparently jet fuel is lighter than water, so that helped too.
And after throwing my voice into the hip hip hoorays, a question–anyone with military knowledge know if the Flying Cross could be awarded to a former member of the Air Force? If not, what civilian awards could be bestowed on Sully, his first officer, and the crew?