US Airways Down

3200 feet isn't all that high. To say the least, they were very lucky to make it to the river. I believe an A-320 glides like a stubby winged brick.
 
GT182 said:
3200 feet isn't all that high. To say the least, they were very lucky to make it to the river. I believe an A-320 glides like a stubby winged brick.
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The "Gimli Glider" 767 without the benefit of a placarded best glide speed (whodathunk) maintained a glide ratio of 12:1 so even with better data/training if we assume the same for the Airbus (it's probably better) that's 3200x12=38000 ft or almost 6.5 nm. High performance sailplanes are about 26-34:1 and a brick is about 1:1 without the stubby wings. IIRC, a properly configured and flown B727 had a glide ratio of near 24:1

Some of the photos show flaps partially extended so it looks as though they had time to set up a good configuration.

Planes do glide a lot better than the average reporter knows or cares to understand so they just hype the "danger"

Rob
 
I can't get the video to play Frog. Tho if what I read below the video box is true, everyone is blown away as to how he pulled it off. I say God was looking over his shoulder yesterday.

Bloomberg said that Captain Sullenberger, copilot and attendants will get the highest award NYC can give(didn't catch the name of it, I tuned in just after he'd sais what it was), and the keys to the city for them all.
 
Rob, did anyone say how far it was from engines out to the landing spot in the river? They showed the course he took but no distance was given. Most pilots I know would give the "glides like a brick" senario, so I added the stubby winged deal to give it more distance. ;)

Some time today was given for the recovery of the plane from the river. A crane was standing by at the pier where the plane was tied up. I just got back home so I don't know if it's out and on land or not.
 
I like what his wife said "Lorrie Sullenberger and her two daughters emerged from her Danville, Calif., home Friday and called her husband "a pilot's pilot who "loves the art of the airplane.""

Must be why we mess with this stuff "the art of the airplane":rapture:


David :kilroy:
 
GT182 said:
I can't get the video to play Frog.
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I had the same problem. Hit "reload" or "refresh". That worked for me.

EDIT: Well.... It worked on the first video I watched. It isn't working on another one that I'm trying to watch. I think that ad.doubleclick.net is the culprit.
 
I have to agree that the pilot and crew are true heroes! As for injuries, I heard that one flight attendant went into surgery for either one or both legs broken, and that none of the passengers was injured further than hypothermia.
 
GT182 said:
Rob, did anyone say how far it was from engines out to the landing spot in the river? They showed the course he took but no distance was given.
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Nothing definitive yet - that will probably be Monday before they read the FDR and process it thru the sim.. From watching many reruns I'm thinking the mess started probably just off the departure end of 04 over the water (180kts/1000 ft?), took a minute or two(180-210kts-still climbing) for the first failure to be identified and dealt with, #2 still producing some power (180-200kts- 3200ft) which led to the decision to go to New Jersey, start the turn then WHAMMO! there goes #2. (set up 150-160 kts) and pick a spot.

Playing with it in Google Earth I came up with a total distance of about 15-16 nm and guessing as above, about 7.5 -8.5 miles from the time it got vewwy, vewwy quiet. That's still consistent with a glide ratio of 12:1 or so.

Conjecture mode OFF. I think they'll have a good initial brief quite soon.

BTW.. notice that as yet there is no good info on the rest of the crew.. just the heroic captain. It may not even have been him who did most of the initial flying, but the politicos and media have seized on a name and the trumpets blare. Compare that to the BA crash at Heathrow where it took less than 24 hours to announce that the FO was the one who was PIC on the leg.

Rob

Ah well...
 
I saw US Coast Guard video of the ditching, it took only 1 minute for the first boat to get to the plane.

Here's the plane's route
_45382049_ny_sat_planecrash_466.gif

1 1526 local time (2026 GMT): Flight 1549 takes off from LaGuardia airport
2 1527 (2027 GMT): Pilot Chesley Sullenberger reports birds hitting engines
3 1528 (2028 GMT): Pilot told to land at Teterboro airfield
4 1531 (2031 GMT): Pilot ditches plane in Hudson River
 
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