Posted on 05/18/2013 8:04:52 AM PDT by ConservativeStatement
A US Airways flight with 34 people aboard was forced to make a dramatic belly landing at Newark International Airport last night.
Terrified passengers managed to escape the plane unharmed after the plane's pilot - named by witnesses as Edward Powers - performed a heroic emergency landing.
Video footage of the turboprop twin-engine plane coming down on the runway showed a dramatic shower of sparks flying from its underbelly as it scraped across the tarmac, however, miraculously no fire was started.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The good old Mail is overdramatizing a bit, but three cheers for the pilot and copilot who kept their cool and safely delivered passengers and cargo.
Little chance of fire with high wing design as long as you keep the wings level. I would say skilled rather than heroic landing. The pilot had no choice but to land the plane. He got it down in one piece that is skill. Had it been that he had other options like bailing out and chose to stay with the aircraft instead, that would be heroic. I know it’s not PC but I consider heroes as people who choose to put themselves in danger to save others. flame suit on for those who believe everyone gets a trophy.
I agree....the Hudson River landing pilot....to me, that was not heroism as much as it was just stunning piloting...
I agree. Great admiration and kudos for incredible skill and level-headedness. The term “hero” should indeed be given to those who CHOSE to put their life in danger to save others.
” performed a heroic emergency landing. “
Heroic would be placing himself bodily between the aircraft and the runway.
Piloting the plane in a manner that preserves his own life, as well as the lives of the passengers is simply following training and human nature.
‘heroic’ is a generally overused term through the past decade, and is not appropriate in this case. He deserves, perhaps, a pat on the back for a good landing, defined as “any landing in which you walk away” by aviation pioneers.
Heroism generally requires placing yourself selflessly and knowingly in harms way to help others.
exactly
yep. I was hoping to get flamed though. I guess I should post it on facebook.
Pilots practice this in simulators.
The Dash-8 is a tough, reliable plane that can handle a lot of abuse, so a belly landing is not a major stress on the airframe.
In fact, the Dash-8 is one of the few aircraft, used by the majors, that can land in a field with little concern for breaking the landing gear.
I can check, too, but is that Canadian made?
Bombardier Aerospace is a division of Bombardier Inc. and is the third-largest airplane manufacturer in the world after Airbus and Boeing.[1] It is headquartered in Dorval, Quebec, Canada.[2]
That is a good point as well. I heard the 2 kinds of pilots, were old pilots and bold pilots, but never old bold pilots.
Can an aircraft be returned to service after something like this? How much does a plane like that cost? What do you think it might take to repair it? just wondering...
They make motorcycles (Spyder) and snow machines (Polaris?), too, eh!
(Where’s my tuke?) Anyone got a Molson, eh?
Owned a CanAm 250T in the 80’s that sounded like a chain saw! LOTS of low end torque; took everyone easily out of the hole.
I am a private pilot with 600 hrs flight time and had the good fortune to make a dirt road landing while on my first cross country solo due to an engine failure. The Cessna 150 wheels are always down and I landed it without any damage. Damn gravity. I was 42 before I took lessons that was 17 years ago.
The plane was going to end up on the ground one way or another. Basic law of flying. The pilot was not heroic, just a very competent pilot who did not choke.
The Hudson River landing wasn’t stunning flying skills. The point at which he saved all those lives was when he admitted to himself he couldn’t make it back to a runway. He did that early enough that he could make a good approach to the river.
“performed a heroic emergency landing.”
Beat me to it. Applause for skillfully setting the aircraft down, but it was not like he had any other choice in the matter.
Heroism involves voluntarily placing ones self in danger for the good of others. Not exactly the case here.
You had the correct analysis.
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