Fruits of pilot skill and collective karma!

That was a textbook, picture-perfect sort of happening. Warmest kudos to Mr Chesley Sullenberger on successfully using all his skills of 40+ years and executing a calm, composed, measured and completely successful ditching of his flight on the Hudson River, NY. For once let's attribute his success and the safe return of 155 friends to their collective karma
Pic courtesy - The Hindu
Notes: An aircraft is usually designed to enable landing on water and is therefore equipped with additional safety equipment. Now you know you should listen carefully to the pretty stewardess explaining safety procedures!
How they're airworthy, and also crashworthy
Quoting from Wiki -
"In December 2002, The Economist quoted an expert as claiming that "No large airliner has ever made an emergency landing on water" in an article that goes on to charge, "So the life jackets ... have little purpose other than to make passengers feel better." This claim was repeated in The Economist in September 2006 in an article which claimed that "in the history of aviation the number of wide-bodied aircraft that have made successful landings on water is zero."
On January 15, 2009 US Airways Flight 1549, an Airbus A320 narrow-body jet, made a successful landing in the Hudson River adjacent to Manhattan in New York City after dual engine failure due to bird strikes. Sources identified the pilot as Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger. All 155 passengers and crew survived with only some minor injuries, in part because the pilot ditched the plane adjacent to the passenger ferry route between NYC and New Jersey."
Other images of landing on water here

Comments

  1. Mojo17 January, 2009

    That was a truly inspired piece of flying. "Narrow bodied" or not, the A320 is still one big chunk of airplane, and putting it down in a river -- safely -- required an incredible amount of skill and nerves of steel.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Swarna17 January, 2009

    True, Mojo
    As a former ground engineer of the IAF, and as a student of Aeronautics, I salute that former USAF pilot.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Inner Vision18 January, 2009

    take a bow...brilliant just brilliant.

    ReplyDelete
  4. के सी 19 January, 2009

    nice post

    ReplyDelete
  5. Swarna20 January, 2009

    Shiv, true
    KC, thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Louise20 January, 2009

    Love this post. And as for the one before it, I would fully support human hibernation!

    ReplyDelete
  7. magiceye20 January, 2009

    kudos indeed to 'sully' for doing the seemingly impossible!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Swarna20 January, 2009

    Louise, thanks
    Magiceye, lots of lessons there in crisis management also.

    ReplyDelete
  9. ninja20 January, 2009

    Thanks for your lovely comment.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Reader Wil20 January, 2009

    It was all over the news and we thought it all very spectacular! Clever job.Thanks for the post and for visiting.

    ReplyDelete
  11. SandyCarlson20 January, 2009

    What Mojo said. Sullenberger deserves everyone's great respect.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Inkivääri20 January, 2009

    That happening was a big news also here in Finland! Nice shot you have!

    ReplyDelete
  13. david mcmahon20 January, 2009

    Hi Swarna,

    That was really a miracle on the Hudson.

    ReplyDelete
  14. david mcmahon20 January, 2009

    PS :::: I've just seen that you served in the IAF. My brother was a fighter pilot .....

    ReplyDelete
  15. Swarna20 January, 2009

    Thanks all.
    That was one happy ending, and no one would have minded the ice-cold waters...

    ReplyDelete
  16. Kat03 February, 2009

    Would like to give that expert-in-Economist a piece of my mind.

    Wish they provide parachutes and underwater swimming gear too, apart from the life jackets..!!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

i appreciate that you have some thoughts to share, and are taking the effort to do so.

Popular posts from this blog

The Power of Vishnu Sahasranamam- Vani's rebirth

A real 'story' as told by a close friend: "Vani was in her early thirties when I first met her in a Mumbai local sometime in the late ‘70’s. She never talked much but her helping tendency was obvious. She boarded the train at the starting point and always found a seat. Instead of sitting through the hour-long journey, she would offer her seat – a luxury - to another lady. My acquaintance too began this way – a few pleasantries exchanged over the train’s din. After a couple of months, she was not at her usual seat. Everyone presumed that she was on leave. In the busy buzz of the Mumbai life, no one thought twice about her till she came back after nearly 4 months. None of us could recognize her. She had lost weight, her cheeks were sunken, eyes lifeless, and to top it all, she had an almost bald head. Out came the rude shock that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo radiation therapy. She hoped that she had won over the disease, but even before
Read more

"Did Hanuman return the mountain?"

Image
The query was popped while we were travelling in Srinagar by road, trying to have a fill of the valley's humbling views of the Himalayas all round. Here are a few glimpses of Gulmarg and Pahalgam My son's query caught us unawares, and also got us thinking about the doubt that we never raised during childhood sessions of the Ramayana epic , and I decided to call my mom, our free encyclopaedia for all things religious / spiritual / cultural. "Yes, Hanuman was disciplined, and he did return the Dronagiri mountain to its original locale". (was our spot answer) Pahalgam Back to the query - Anyone, any idea? There are several versions, all quite satisfactory, if you spare a thought. - Rumassala is one of several places identified by the Sri Lankan Tourism Department as being associated with Ramayana. Hanuman carried a part of the Dronagiri Mountain that was rich with medicinal herbs including Sanjeevani from the Himalayas to revive Lakshmana. 'When the chief physicia
Read more

Darshan Do, Ghanshyam Naath...

Granted that enough and more has been said about SM (स्ल-क in Hindi). - what the director did, and did not, - what the co-director did not, - what ARR routinely does much better (DB got his musician right), - how RP got world-recognition for his techniques, - what the media Overdid. For a very balanced take try K Hariharan's, titled 'Orientalism for a global market' . "For the majority of western audiences who are writhing under the excruciating weight of a global meltdown, a fairy tale about the ugly side of India should certainly come as an orgiastic catharsis! “Slumdog Millionaire” should be considered as one of the most gratuitous fantasies to be created about India in the 21st century. Over 200 scenes whizzing past in 120 minutes leaves one completely anaesthetised and incapable of registering the complex layers that make up the garbage dump presented in “SM” called India..... as an Indian and a Mumbaikar I am not ashamed to accept the image of slums, criminals an
Read more