Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: CONTROL (02/18/21)
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TITLE: US Airways Flight 1549 | Previous Challenge Entry
By John Custer
02/24/21 -
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What the pilot did not know was that some geese were planning to make their own flight and they did not check with the LaGuardia Tower.
Shortly after the plane took off, it hit the flock of geese who also had just taken off. The geese caused both engines to fail, and the pilot was forced to quickly consider all of his options.
Usually when one engine fails the pilot is able to land the airplane safely with the other engine. However, when he loses control of both engines, he must consider the safety of all of his passengers plus the possible casualties of crashing in a highly populated area like New York City. This is a pilot’s worst nightmare.
He quickly determined that with no engine power, he could not make it back to LaGuardia or to nearby Teterboro Airport.
Now he had to rely on all the years of training and experience he had received. Facing options that he never thought he would need to consider, he ruled out each one that was not possible. Would the option that he chose actually work? Would everyone on the plane be killed or would they survive? He did not know.
There were only so many things that he could control. Most important was to control his thoughts, not letting any distracting thoughts enter his mind, and staying focused on the most important decisions at hand. He selected his best option and began executing it to the best of his ability.
Since he could control the direction of the gliding plane, his best plan, the one with the least number of risks, was to land it in the Hudson River. Even that took a lot of skill. If he came in too steep, he would do a lot of damage to the plane and cause water to enter the fuselage too quickly, thus not giving him enough time to rescue his passengers. He also had to avoid hitting any boats on the river.
The stewardesses were alerted, then the passengers. Captain Sully braced himself for the inevitable. He later said that the moments before the ditching were “the worst sickening, pit-of-your-stomach, falling-through-the-floor feeling” that he had ever experienced.
Then…….it happened. The plane was in the water. His skilful “landing” did minimum damage to the plane. It wasn’t over yet. He had to get everyone onto the wings without tipping the plane. Some left onto the right wing, and some onto the left wing.
After everyone had exited onto the wings, Sully went through the airplane twice to make sure everyone was out, then he picked up his log book and exited the plane himself. Trying to avoid tipping the plane by putting too much weight on one wing, he got the passengers onto the rescue boats. It was done. Everyone was out. Boats took everyone to safety and no lives were lost.
It took weeks for the review boards to evaluate the decisions that he made in a few seconds. They confirmed that his decisions were correct.
Living in Charlotte I visited the aviation museum where the airplane was on display. Walking around the Airbus A320 and listening to some of the people who had been on the plane when it crashed into the water, I was overwhelmed with a sense of admiration that Capt. Sully, who was so small in comparison to the massive plane, could control it and ultimately impact the lives of so many people.
Non-fiction
Wikipedia - Chesley Sullenberger
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