Classic British Flight Sim

Everyone knows the Aircraft with underslung engines are a bitch to ditch.
Seems there is one US Air captain who knows how, A320 presently floating in the Hudson river after suffering a double flame out six minutes after departing LaGuardia due to mulitple bird strikes

No reported fatalities , so he obviously knew what he as doing

News in NY now stating that 148 pax and 5 crew ALL safe.
BIG thumbs up to NYFD (as usual) and the Ferry crews of New York who got everyone off safely.
FAA is reporting he hit a flock of seagulls immeadiatly after take off - I bet it was the longest six minutes of
their lives. Apparently the aircraft is now being shepherded down the Hudson ri8ver by fire boats - they have closed all
the doors and it looks like its still floating - it will be interesting to see if they can salvage it


Leif

Good to hear all are well And sterling work by all emergency crews

I must admit, I have wondered for a LONG time why in this day and age something can't be done about birds ingesting into engines. Even a fine, strong mesh at the pod entrance with nice sharp edges might be enough to dice the blighters up first.....

I must admit, I have wondered for a LONG time why in this day and age something can't be done about birds ingesting into engines.

It'd have to be a f*** off strong mesh to withstand hitting a sea gull at a few hundred knots, 1/2mv^2 and all that, heck have you seen the damage a bird does when it hits a solid part of the airframe? Most (all?) aero-engines are certified to withstand a bird hitting it and continuing to function, flocks of them tend to come under the category of things it'd be un-economic to even consider, the extra cost/weight/fuel/performance penalty massively outweighing the advantage to be gained from avoiding the 1 in a very large number chance of the event happening.

Good job by the pilot though, be interesting to hear how he controlled the approach to avoid tipping noes first when the engines hit the water.

Agree Leif, fantastic job by the flight crew. :prayer:

SkippyBing wrote:

I must admit, I have wondered for a LONG time why in this day and age something can't be done about birds ingesting into engines.

It'd have to be a f*** off strong mesh to withstand hitting a sea gull at a few hundred knots, 1/2mv^2 and all that, heck have you seen the damage a bird does when it hits a solid part of the airframe? Most (all?) aero-engines are certified to withstand a bird hitting it and continuing to function, flocks of them tend to come under the category of things it'd be un-economic to even consider, the extra cost/weight/fuel/performance penalty massively outweighing the advantage to be gained from avoiding the 1 in a very large number chance of the event happening.

Good job by the pilot though, be interesting to hear how he controlled the approach to avoid tipping does first when the engines hit the water.

True Skip - and I fully appreciate what the Scunners can do - having taken two pigeons on my car at 60 MPH - One dented the bonnet before bouncing over the roof, and the other smashed the grille next to the foglight (and was still alive when I pulled it out) - so I can imagine the force of a flock of similar/bigger birds do to an A/C at much higher speed... I suppose at that speed it wouldn't matter if they were diced - the mass would be about the same...

Great to read that everyone is OK.

A phenomenal job by the flight crew. Also, praise to the cabin crew for their handling the evacuation. Along with the recent BA 777 incident at LHR, this shows the incredible skill and professionalism of the crews. Well done to them.

Kevin

Heh, I always poke fun at the safety card where it says that you should get out and wait on the wings. I always say "As if they are still going to be connected to the aeroplane after a water landing..."
Looks like in this case I'm wrong.

What a fantastic effort by the flight crew, couldn't have really done a better job. Might have been a lot worse, ie that 767 that was hijacked.

Agreed Jonesey. By all accounts the Pilot has 'tailslid' her onto the water with a high AoA and flopped her down - perhaps 'obviously', but in the timescale, a remarkable bit of thinking and skill. It's also extremely good they got to the water, and not been overland in that part of NYC at the time.
A very happy result.

On another matter, I just love all these people who pop up on the news (particullary American reporters) who think they are total experts on aviation but are in fact, talking utter s***e

so.... the ditch button works.