Landing in the Hudson in 3D

This is a pretty cool reenactment of the US Air landing in the Hudson River from last January 15th. It's done in real time and includes the radio transmissions. Captain Sullenberger didn't have much time to decide what he was going to do.

Sully Gets Another Honor

Boy, what a great year this guy has had:

Captain Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, the quiet California pilot whose heroic emergency landing in the Hudson River on Jan. 15 captured imaginations worldwide, was named grand marshal of the 121st Rose Parade on Thursday.

Emerging from Tournament House in a shower of gold confetti, Sullenberger, of Danville, told the applauding crowd he was "happy and excited" to lead the Jan. 1 parade, themed "2010: A Cut Above the Rest."

"Being `a cut above' is something I aspire to, and I'm looking forward to driving down Colorado Boulevard ... and participating as the person who tosses the coin in the 96th Rose Bowl Game," he said.

The parade, an event he's "admired from afar," has been a family New Year's Day tradition, Sullenberger said.

"I always had a dream that one day we'd see it in person," he said after the ceremony. "And this is the way to do that!"

The parade theme is "perfect," Sullenberger said. "It honors all the everyday heroes who do their jobs with great diligence ... heroes who have not received so much notoriety."

Most Grand Marshalls are honored for a lifetime's work, and in some ways so is Sully. Although it was a few minutes on January 15th that made him a hero, it was a lifetime of piloting skills that made that day, and this honor, possible.

Sully Flies Again

US Airways' most famous crew takes to the skies of New York City once again:

Let's hope geese never strike twice.

Capt. Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III returns to the cockpit today for the first time since January's heroic Hudson River landing.

Jeff Skiles, his co-pilot at the time, will be beside him again as they fly the La Guardia-to-Charlotte, NC, route that US Airways Flight 1549 was scheduled to make on Jan. 15 before an encounter with a flock of Canada geese forced Sully to ditch the jet in the river.

"I think it will make people feel good -- especially those who fly US Airways -- to know that Sully is back on board," said March Dolphin, of Brooklyn, who was a passenger on Flight 1549.

The hero pilot has been "itching to get back up in the air," a family friend said.

Meanwhile, don't blame geese for damaging the nose of a Delta airlines shuttle Tuesday. Authorities said a cormorant ran into the plane just before it landed at La Guardia.

He's had quite a ride on the celebrity circuit these past eight months, but I'll bet he'd rather be behind the controls of that jet.

Another Celebrity Death - Infomercial King Billy Mays Found Dead

Wow, famous people are dropping like flies. This breaking news from Fox:

"Infomercial King" Billy Mays has died, according to Fox News. He is most known as the salesperson promoting OxiClean.

In his honor Oxiclean will be used to clean the Michael Jackson star on Hollywood Blvd.

Interesting, but probably unconnected part of the Billy Mays story (from Breaking News):

Billy Mays was reportedly inside the U.S. Airways plane which made a hard landing in Tampa, Florida on Saturday. He has now died.

UPDATE: The Fox News story here.

UPDATE 2 - More information on the US Airways incident:

On Saturday, Mays was on board the U.S. Airways passenger plane which made a hard landing at Tampa International Airport. No one was injured in the accident, according to airport officials, but Mays told a local television station that an item fell on his head. "All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head," Mays joked. Lt. Brian Dugan called it "pure speculation" to say his death could be related to the plane incident.

I wonder if they'll find a subdural hematoma when they do the autopsy?

UPDATE 3 - From Barack Obama's Teleprompter:

Big Guy bummed about Billy Mays; was counting on him to pitch healthcare reform, only not with a money back guarantee.

UPDATE 4: From TMZ:

The FAA is already deflecting blame for the death of Billy Mays -- claiming the legendary TV pitchman wasn't wearing a seat belt when he took a shot to the head during a rough landing on a flight he was on yesterday.

Here's what we know -- Billy Mays was aboard US Airways Flight 1241 flying from Philadelphia, which landed roughly when the front tire blew out as it touched down. After the flight, Billy told FOX 13 in Tampa that something struck him in the head -- here's Billy's actual quote:

"All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head."

We called the FAA for comment, and a spokesperson told us, "The passenger needs to wear a seat belt during landing and he didn't."

UPDATE to the UPDATE: FAA now backing away from statement regarding seat belt. Claims they were misquoted.

UPDATE 5: According to the website for "Pitchmen", the Discovery Channel reality show starring Billy Mays, an all day marathon of the show had been planned for July 1st. They haven't yet updated the website based on today's news.

UPDATE 6: It wasn't a head injury, but heart disease that took Billy Mays.

Aviation Quote of the Day

From Capt. Chesley Sullenberger aboard US Air flight 1549 just moments after take-off from La Guardia Airport in New York (recorded on the cockpit voice recorder):

uh what a view of the Hudson today.

Little did he know at that moment that he was about to get a much better view of the Hudson within the next minute or so after geese knocked out both of his engines.

US Air Crew Tells Press to Take a Hike

In so many words:

WASHINGTON — The crew of the US Airways plane that landed in New York's Hudson River has asked the media to back off while the accident is being investigated.

Flight 1549's captain, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, first officer and co-pilot Jeff Skiles, and flight attendants Sheila Dail, Doreen Welsh and Donna Dent said in a joint statement Monday they want the media to "respect their desire to refrain from participating in interviews until further notice" while the National Transportation Safety Board investigates the accident.

The crew said they "wish to offer their sincere thanks and appreciation for the overwhelming support, praise and well wishes they have received from the public around the world since the events of last Thursday."

They said they are willing to do media interviews "when the time is right."

I understand the crew was invited and will attend the inauguration. If I were them I'd rethink that too. They don't really want to find themselves a political tool.

More Details on the US Air Ditching

The crew had an amazing amount of things to do in very little time:

NEW YORK (AP) - The pilot of a crippled US Airways jetliner made a split-second decision to put down in the Hudson River because trying to return to the airport after birds knocked out both engines could have led to a "catastrophic" crash in a populated neighborhood, he told investigators Saturday.

Capt. Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger said that in the few minutes he had to decide where to set down the powerless plane Thursday afternoon, he felt it was "too low, too slow" and near too many buildings to go anywhere else, according to the National Transportation Safety Board account of his testimony.

The pilot and his first officer provided their first account to NTSB investigators Saturday of what unfolded inside US Airways Flight 1549 in the moments after it slammed into a flock of birds and lost both engines.

Co-pilot Jeff Skiles, who was flying the plane at takeoff, saw the birds coming in perfect formation, and made note of it. Sullenberger looked up, and in an instant his windscreen was filled with big, dark-brown birds.

"His instinct was to duck," said NTSB board member Kitty Higgins, recounting their interview. Then there was a thump, the smell of burning birds, and silence as both aircraft engines cut out.

The account illustrated how quickly things deteriorated after the bump at 3,000 feet, and the pilots' swift realization that returning to LaGuardia or getting to another airport was impossible.

With both engines out, Higgins said, flight attendants described complete silence in the cabin, "like being in a library." A smoky haze and the odor of burning metal or electronics filled the plane.

The blow had come out of nowhere. The NTSB said radar data confirmed that the aircraft intersected a group of "primary targets," almost certainly birds, as the jet climbed over the Bronx. Those targets had not been on the radar screen of the air traffic controller who approved the departure, Higgins said.

After the bird impact, Sullenberger told investigators he immediately took over flying from his co-poilot and made a series of command decisions.

Returning to LaGuardia, he quickly realized, was out. So was nearby Teterboro Airport, where he had never flown before, and which would require him to take the jet over densely populated northern New Jersey.

"We can't do it," he told air traffic controllers. "We're gonna be in the Hudson."

The co-pilot kept trying to restart the engines, while checking off emergency landing procedures on a three-page list that the crew normally begins at 35,000 feet.

Sullenberger guided the gliding jet over the George Washington Bridge and looked for a place to land.

Pilots are trained to set down near a ship if they have to ditch, so they can be rescued before sinking, and Sullenberger picked a stretch of water near Manhattan's commuter ferry terminals. Rescuers were able to arrive within minutes.

It all happened so fast, the crew never threw the aircraft's "ditch switch," which seals off vents and holes in the fuselage to make it more seaworthy.

As more details come out, it makes the successful ditching and escape by everybody on board all the more miraculous.

Coast Guard Video of US Air Ditching

The Coast Guard has released video their cameras caught of the ditching of the US Air flight in the Hudson River. Pretty amazing stuff. The crash occurs at the 2:02 mark:

A Million to One Shot

I'm still marveling at the water landing made by the U.S. Air pilot in New York yesterday. An amazing number of things had to go right for that to work without serious injuries or fatalities, and they all did. The captain is getting a lot of well-earned praise:

The pilots of US Airways Flight 1549 achieved one of the rarest and most technically challenging feats in commercial aviation: landing on water without fatalities.

Although commercial jetliners are equipped with life vests and inflatable slides, there have been few successful attempts at water landings during the jet age. Indeed, even though pilots go through the motions of learning to ditch a plane in water, the generally held belief is that such landings would almost certainly result in fatalities.

Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III, a veteran US Airways pilot, pulled it off while simultaneously coping with numerous other challenges.

In the minutes after takeoff, the pilot managed to maneuver past the skyscrapers of Manhattan and into the crowded Hudson River, even though the engines were disabled after apparently hitting a flock of geese.

Passengers said the plane was vibrating violently and the cabin began to fill with smoke. To reach its splashdown spot, witnesses said the jet glided over the George Washington Bridge before plopping into the water.

"The fact that passengers were able to walk off that airplane and wait on the wing for rescuers to arrive is remarkable. It's amazing," said aviation consultant Tommy McFall, a former airline pilot and retired accident investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.

Why Birds Are Such a Danger to PlanesPaterson: 'A Miracle on the Hudson'The Rarest of the Rare: A Safe Water LandingRick Kurner, another US Airways pilot, says he has flown with Capt. Sullenberger for 23 years. "He's always been an unbelievable professional," says Mr. Kurner, a first officer.

Mr. Kurner says when he heard it was Capt. Sullenberger who was flying the plane that landed safely in the Hudson, he wasn't at all surprised. "He held his cool. 'Where am I going to go? City? City? River.'"

Many moons ago when I was getting my pilot's license part of the training was in power off landings. You'd be putting along minding your own business when suddenly it would get pretty quiet and you realized the instructor had just closed the throttle, making the big fan in front more of a drag than a help. He would then looking into your shocked face and say "where are you going to land"?

Even though the aircraft was much lighter and slower than an A320, you still had a surprisingly short amount of time to make some important decisions. You had to trim the airplane up to the best glide speed while at the same time looking for a suitable landing site. You had to be careful not to get too slow or you'd stall, but you wanted to be as slow as possible for the landing, especially if it was going to be off the airport where the possibility of hitting hard things was a lot greater.

We never actually landed off the airport since that might involve a damaged airplane, damaged bodies and a lot of paperwork, but we got surprisingly close to the ground in a remote area above Laguna Beach. It would get your blood pressure up pretty quick, and was a good reminder that when you only have one engine you have only one option if it quits - you're gonna land somewhere and you better make some good choices.

Captain Sullenberger did everything right. He realized the aircraft did not have enough energy to make it to an airport, there weren't good off airport choices on land, so the next best thing was to put the plane in the water. The Hudson in that area is pretty straight, long and wide, and there are lots of boats available for a quick rescue. Landing a jet with two large engines under the wings in water is a very risky operation. Hit it just a little bit off and the jet cartwheels or spins around violently and breaks up. Somehow the Captain hit it perfectly, and even in 36 degree water with 20 degree air temperatures, everybody got off safely. I'm still amazed. He was truly the master of his aircraft.

His situation will undoubtedly become part of the simulator training for all US Air pilots (and probably other airlines as well) and I wonder how many of them will successfully complete that landing?

U.S. Airways Plane Down in Hudson River

There hasn't been a major airline crash in the U.S. during the last two years but that's changed today:

NEW YORK (AP) - A US Airways plane crashed into the frigid Hudson River on Thursday afternoon after striking a bird that disabled two engines, sending 150 on board scrambling onto rescue boats, authorities say. No deaths or serious injuries were immediately reported.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown says the US Airways Flight 1549 had just taken off from LaGuardia Airport enroute to Charlotte, N.C., when the crash occurred in the river near 48th Street in midtown Manhattan.

Brown says the plane, an Airbus 320, appears to have hit one or more birds.

A law enforcement official said that authorities are not aware of any deaths and that the passengers do not appear to be seriously injured. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the rescue was still under way.

The plane was submerged in the icy waters up to the windows. Rescue crews had opened the door and were pulling passengers in yellow life vests from the plane. Several boats surrounded the plane, which appeared to be slowly sinking.

Just a week ago I was watching the flight attendants on Southwest Airlines demonstrate the life vests and I have to admit I didn't pay that close attention. I will next time.

Thanks to shallow water, the quick thinking of the crew, and the quick work of rescuers, it looks like everyone has gotten off the plane. Amazing.

Birds are always a hazard to delicately balanced jet engines. The pilot, upon losing power in both engines had to make a quick decision. You wouldn't think that landing in a freezing cold river would be the best option, but chances are they wouldn't have been as successful with an off-airport landing anyplace else. This crew will be rightfully lauded as heroes.

UPDATE: Information on the pilot:

Meet Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, III, the US Airways pilot who today amazingly crash-landed a US Airways jet in New York's Hudson River without any apparent fatalities. The heroic Sullenberger, 57, has worked for US Airways since 1980, and before that spent more than six years as a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot.

More here:

The Federal Aviation Administration said everybody was accounted for - and Mayor Bloomberg hailed pilot Chesley Sullenberger III as a hero before he had a chance to dry off.

"He did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river," the mayor said of the veteran pilot who lives near San Francisco.

With water seeping into the plane, Sullenberger, a former fighter pilot, walked up and down the center aisle twice to make sure nobody was left before he joined the exodus from the jet, the mayor said.

"He was the last one off the plane," Bloomberg said.

US Airways Joins the Effort to Resurrect Train Travel

A short time ago I posted an item about United Airlines decision to start charging $25 for coach passengers who wish to check a SECOND bag. I knew when I posted it that as incestuous as the airline industry is it would only be a matter of time before other airlines joined in (after seeing how bad a beating United took for leading the way).

This morning I hear on the news that US Airways has joined United in their efforts to make train travel more desireable and starting with any trips booked in May will also charge $25 for the second bag. I hope there are cameras at the airport the day these changes go into effect because I can't wait for all the angry passenger reactions.

Needless to say, aircraft loading and unloading will become even more cumbersome thanks to the struggles that people will have finding overhead space for the bags they used to check. The airlines will be forced to gate check more bags that don't fit (how are they going to charge for those?) and people will end up jamming stuff under their feet. Trying to board and exit airplanes will become an even more trying experience.

This new policy will not only make air travel more expensive and loading and unloading longer and more frustrating, but I also predict that it will make flying more dangerous. Why? People will carry more and more stuff into the cabin of aircraft until the overhead bins are not only overflowing, but the underseat areas will be jammed as well. In an emergency evacuation of the airplane it will be more difficult to get out of the airplane as you struggle to get through all the junk that people have brought on board.

Other airlines now have a choice. If American Airlines wants to take advantage of this the right way they should start advertising right now that they won't charge you for the second bag. Why waste the extra money on United or USAir if you can get where you want to go on another carrier that doesn't make the charge. That probably won't happen as airlines tend to follow one another on pricing if they think they can get away with it, but if there's anybody at American with any sense of market dynamics, this could be a real opportunity to set themselves apart from the crowd.