Posted on 06/09/2009 8:02:26 AM PDT by Peter Horry
Even after Flight 1549 glided to a near-perfect forced landing on the Hudson River in January, the plane and its 155 passengers and crew came within inches of catastrophe when someone cracked open a rear door, sending water gushing into the cabin.
Who opened the door is one of the questions the National Transportation Safety Board hopes to answer during three days of hearings on the accident beginning Tuesday. Other issues include crew training for forced water landings and dual engine failures, whether aircraft standards for ditching are adequate, bird detection and mitigation efforts at airports, and whether engine standards need to be toughened to withstand collisions with large birds.
Had the door been opened wider, the Airbus A320 would likely have flooded and sank immediately, said one experienced crash investigator. Even the slight gap in the door caused passengers in the rear to struggle through rising water to get to safety.
(Excerpt) Read more at whec.com ...
“three days of hearings”
For a landing where everyone walked away? AKA, safe landing.
Considering, is it really necessary?
I hope there is a credible response to the question:
“Why did we see so many folks standing on the wings and not wearing life jackets?”
It’s really all about who opened the door to lawsuits.
It behooves the passengers to blame the flight attendant.
Your seat cushion is your flotation device. It's up to the individual passenger to take it with him.
Watch this animation, with the cockpit voiceover.
There is one flight attendant that has been very vocal about her “trauma”. Many of the passengers thought her incompetent for the situation.
I’m wondering if maybe she’s covering for her attempted cowardice (fleeing the passengers through the back door)?
Where would they get life jackets?
There is no question the flight crew admirably handled a massive work load.
It could be argued, once the plane was lined up with and descending over the river, one of the cabin crew could/should have made a 5 second cabin annoucement, and stressed the point even after impact.
My son flies frequently up and down the east coast and I immediately brought those “what’s wrong with this” photos to his attention.
“Where would they get life jackets?”
OK, i should have said “flotation device”.
I’m having trouble seeing the article, probably due to Noscript. Can more of the article be posted?
The landing was amazing but these incidents are so rare that the airline industry must take advantage of assessing what went wrong as well as what went right. It is an event from which there are many opportunities to learn and improve. God bless Sully and his crew...
” Your seat cushion is your flotation device. It’s up to the individual passenger to take it with him.”
Of course it is, and its also “up to” the trained members of the cabin crew, those who are functioning, to provide professional assistance in such once-in-a-lifetime stressful circumstances.
There are reports that “young” people were separated from their parents in the moments after impact.
It isn’t necessary to propose tragic scenarios to understand my point, we can all use our imaginations.
One thing I have learned in my business is that when something out of the ordinary happens it is important to examine what we did right as well as what we did wrong. This helps everyone to know how to react should a similar incident happens in the future.
Do you do your review with non pilot government politicans or is it done at professional forums and discussion groups for your industry?
You make a good point. I made the assumption that they were bringing the right people together. I suppose that was probably wildly optimistic.
And this couldn't be harrassment given that the Captain's Republican....
Bump so I can watch it at home.
“And this couldn’t be harrassment given that the Captain’s Republican....”
I expect grandstanding, that’s what they do, but I hope harassment won’t be tolerated. I still get steamed about the way Bob Kerrey and John Lehman treated the NY fire officials during the 9 11 hearings, they should have been smacked.
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