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Post by meeshhead on Jan 16, 2009 1:06:18 GMT
So, I was in my sailboat on the Hudson River in N.Y., minding my own business, when all of a sudden.......  Luckily, all 150 on board survived with no major injuries. This pilot is a hero. He made a perfect landing in a small piece of water, surrounded by masses of people, bridges, and tall buildings! The water was so cold, that people could have easily died in minutes. Click on link for vids and more pics. www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/15/usair-plane-crashed-in-hu_n_158263.html |
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Post by meeshluv on Jan 16, 2009 15:37:24 GMT
There's an old saying in aviation circles:
"Airspeed, altitude, and brains - You always need at least two..."
I guess that, in their case, the guy at the controls had all three.
Of course, there's the other saying too:
"Any landing that you can walk away from is a good one - A GREAT landing is one where you can still use the 'plane again afterwards!"
And I can sort of relate to how the passengers must have felt when the call came over the intercom. Back in my teens, I spent a few years in the Air Training Corps (the RAF's cadet organisation) and, when I was 14, spent a week on a summer camp at RAF Lynham, where the RAF's C-130 Hercules fleet is based. During the week, apart from all the other things we did, we all had several flights in the planes there. On one of mine, we were just getting ready to land after a five-hour navigational exercise when the Loadmaster told us there was a problem. They'd lost the hydraulic power used to lower the undercarriage, and we were going to have to help him crank it down manually. If you've ever seen the recent "remake" of 'Memphis Belle', then you'll probably have some idea of what I'm talking about here - Get the BIG handle out, stick it in the socket, and wind it like mad until the wheels come down. So we did that, and got them down OK, only to get word from the pilots that they only had two green lights, and one red one - which meant that it looked like one set of wheels hadn't locked in place and could collapse when we touched down. So they had to call out all of the emergency vehicles, and we had to get into crash positions ready for if anything did happen on touchdown. Fortunately, everything turned out OK, and we found out later that, when the hydraulics failed, some of the fluid got into the sensor on those wheels, shorting it out and preventing it from showing that they'd locked into place OK.
So I can really relate to how they must have felt - although in a way I think they were probably a bit luckier in that they only had a few seconds to think about the possibilities, while we had about half an hour to think about it all....
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Post by meeshhead on Jan 16, 2009 16:00:00 GMT
So I can really relate to how they must have felt - although in a way I think they were probably a bit luckier in that they only had a few seconds to think about the possibilities, while we had about half an hour to think about it all.... Yeah, I hear ya, Adrian. And When you consider that it's very rare to have any survivors of a "ditched" plane, these people were very lucky in all aspects! |
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Post by meeshluv on Jan 16, 2009 16:24:37 GMT
So I can really relate to how they must have felt - although in a way I think they were probably a bit luckier in that they only had a few seconds to think about the possibilities, while we had about half an hour to think about it all.... Yeah, I hear ya, Adrian. And When you consider that it's very rare to have any survivors of a "ditched" plane, these people were very lucky in all aspects! Especially when you think that most modern airliners are no longer "ditch-tested" in model form, because the general concensus of opinion is that they're un-ditchable... Of course, for me, mention of an airliner going into a river just after take-off always makes me think of the 1982 Washington DC crash - Which, ironically happened on January 13th.... (I remember seeing all the footage of that on the news at the time.) aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19820113-0 |
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Post by meeshhead on Jan 16, 2009 16:34:08 GMT
It's amazing to me how few crashes there are, considering the amount of flights that take place.
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Post by G-Man on Jan 17, 2009 19:07:10 GMT
It's amazing to me how few crashes there are, considering the amount of flights that take place. It amazed me to start with, but after thinking about it, not really. There are so many bad drivers, and there are so many people driving on this Earth. There is a much smaller amount of planes than there are cars, and pilots have to undertake rigorous training and authorisation to fly, unlike drivers. It amazes me that there are probably many more people that are scared of flying than there are of being a passenger in a car! |
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Post by meeshhead on Jan 17, 2009 19:57:15 GMT
It's amazing to me how few crashes there are, considering the amount of flights that take place. It amazes me that there are probably many more people that are scared of flying than there are of being a passenger in a car! My first choice is to be a driver of a car. Second choice is to be a passenger in a car, if I know and trust the driver. Last choice is to be a passenger on a plane having no control. |
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Post by G-Man on Jan 18, 2009 3:25:54 GMT
It amazes me that there are probably many more people that are scared of flying than there are of being a passenger in a car! My first choice is to be a driver of a car. Second choice is to be a passenger in a car, if I know and trust the driver. Last choice is to be a passenger on a plane having no control. What about buses? Third? |
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Post by meeshhead on Jan 18, 2009 6:38:31 GMT
My first choice is to be a driver of a car. Second choice is to be a passenger in a car, if I know and trust the driver. Last choice is to be a passenger on a plane having no control. What about buses? Third?    |
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Post by Jo Pearson on Jan 18, 2009 16:19:26 GMT
It amazes me that there are probably many more people that are scared of flying than there are of being a passenger in a car! My first choice is to be a driver of a car. Second choice is to be a passenger in a car, if I know and trust the driver. Last choice is to be a passenger on a plane having no control. That's kind of how I am too. My first choice is to be the driver in a car, with being the passenger to a driver I know and trust as my second choice. Third choice is travelling by train. Fourth choice is to be on the back of my brother's motorbike (He sometimes gives me a lift to uni on it if my b/f has to go somewhere else in the car...). Then it's going somewhere by bus, and then flying in an airliner comes after that. |
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Post by meeshhead on Jan 18, 2009 17:23:30 GMT
My first choice is to be a driver of a car. Second choice is to be a passenger in a car, if I know and trust the driver. Last choice is to be a passenger on a plane having no control. That's kind of how I am too. My first choice is to be the driver in a car, with being the passenger to a driver I know and trust as my second choice. Third choice is travelling by train. Fourth choice is to be on the back of my brother's motorbike (He sometimes gives me a lift to uni on it if my b/f has to go somewhere else in the car...). Then it's going somewhere by bus, and then flying in an airliner comes after that. After giving it some more thought, I have a new first choice: Riding in the back seat of a limo with Mischa Anne!  Ps. Jo, you're nearing the 3000 post mark! |
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Post by meeshluv on Jan 18, 2009 20:46:16 GMT
That's kind of how I am too. My first choice is to be the driver in a car, with being the passenger to a driver I know and trust as my second choice. Third choice is travelling by train. Fourth choice is to be on the back of my brother's motorbike (He sometimes gives me a lift to uni on it if my b/f has to go somewhere else in the car...). Then it's going somewhere by bus, and then flying in an airliner comes after that. After giving it some more thought, I have a new first choice: Riding in the back seat of a limo with Mischa Anne! Ps. Jo, you're nearing the 3000 post mark! Wouldn't that be everyone's first choice for how to travel???  And yes, Jo - Only two more to go!!!! |
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Post by G-Man on Jan 18, 2009 20:51:38 GMT
After giving it some more thought, I have a new first choice: Riding in the back seat of a limo with Mischa Anne! Ps. Jo, you're nearing the 3000 post mark! Wouldn't that be everyone's first choice for how to travel??? And yes, Jo - Only two more to go!!!! Not for me, I'd rather fly than ride in a coach! I hate them so much, they always nearly manage to make me sick! |
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Post by Marissa on Jan 19, 2009 3:34:46 GMT
Jo 3000 posts!
Congrats!
I'd rather travel by a plane.
I love it!
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Post by meeshhead on Jan 19, 2009 4:35:26 GMT
My first choice is to be a driver of a car. Second choice is to be a passenger in a car, if I know and trust the driver. Last choice is to be a passenger on a plane having no control. What about buses? Third? On second thought, buses aren't that bad.  |
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