-Cp
01-17-2009, 05:11 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/01/15/2009-01-15_veteran_pilots_praise_pictureperfect_sof.html
Veteran pilots tipped their caps to Hudson River Hero Chesley Sullenberger on Thursday night, saying he truly pulled off a miracle for the ages.
"You only have one shot at this in real life," said former National Transportation Safety Board investigator Greg Feith.
"If he dragged a wing, had one wing down, he could have cartwheeled the airplane and we would be talking about fatalities."
Instead, Sullenberger brought US Airways Flight 1549 down safely in the Hudson River Thursday afternoon, improbably saving the lives of all 155 people aboard.
"This is a miracle the aviation community trains for," said former NTSB Chairman James Hall.
Sully, as the former Air Force fighter pilot is known, had just three minutes to handle the instant crisis - and he passed with flying colors.
"It looks like they did an incredible job," said former Navy pilot Mary Cummings. "It looks like a picture-perfect response. They handled everything exactly correctly."
Pilots receive instructions on ditching a plane in their initial training, with refreshers throughout their careers. But those are on flight simulators, where practice apparently made perfect for Sullenberger.
The pilot and co-pilot would typically run down a checklist before ditching: getting the passengers into crash position, putting the plane into a "descent profile" with the flaps at the proper setting for a soft landing, and keeping the plane stable and in the air for as long as possible.
"They just gently touch it down," Cummings said. "The water is a lot more forgiving than land."
Indeed. As he headed south down the Hudson, Sullenberger was sailing between the New Jersey shoreline and the Manhattan skyline, with little room for error.
"If you're flying over New York and you need a runway, the Hudson's a pretty good one," said Arnie Gentile of the U.S. Airline Pilots Association.
Veteran pilots tipped their caps to Hudson River Hero Chesley Sullenberger on Thursday night, saying he truly pulled off a miracle for the ages.
"You only have one shot at this in real life," said former National Transportation Safety Board investigator Greg Feith.
"If he dragged a wing, had one wing down, he could have cartwheeled the airplane and we would be talking about fatalities."
Instead, Sullenberger brought US Airways Flight 1549 down safely in the Hudson River Thursday afternoon, improbably saving the lives of all 155 people aboard.
"This is a miracle the aviation community trains for," said former NTSB Chairman James Hall.
Sully, as the former Air Force fighter pilot is known, had just three minutes to handle the instant crisis - and he passed with flying colors.
"It looks like they did an incredible job," said former Navy pilot Mary Cummings. "It looks like a picture-perfect response. They handled everything exactly correctly."
Pilots receive instructions on ditching a plane in their initial training, with refreshers throughout their careers. But those are on flight simulators, where practice apparently made perfect for Sullenberger.
The pilot and co-pilot would typically run down a checklist before ditching: getting the passengers into crash position, putting the plane into a "descent profile" with the flaps at the proper setting for a soft landing, and keeping the plane stable and in the air for as long as possible.
"They just gently touch it down," Cummings said. "The water is a lot more forgiving than land."
Indeed. As he headed south down the Hudson, Sullenberger was sailing between the New Jersey shoreline and the Manhattan skyline, with little room for error.
"If you're flying over New York and you need a runway, the Hudson's a pretty good one," said Arnie Gentile of the U.S. Airline Pilots Association.