Crash landing on the Hudson: January 15, 2009 aircraft accident

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

One of the most anticipated September premieres is the American film Miracle on the Hudson, directed by Clint Eastwood. The scenario of Todd Komarnika is based on the real events of 2009-15-01, when the pilots of the New York - Charlotte (North Carolina) flight made an emergency landing on the Hudson of a US Airways aircraft 308 seconds after takeoff. The article is dedicated to one of the few aviation incidents that did not cause any loss of life due to the impeccable actions of the crew.

Air accident

Flight 1549 took off late from LaGuardia Airport. Due to bad weather, one hundred and fifty passengers and five crew members were waiting for takeoff clearance until 15:24. The sky cleared, but a storm was expected, so people dreamed of getting to their destination as quickly as possible. Airbus A320 Frenchproduction was in operation for only 10 years and was known as a fairly reliable aircraft, so nothing foreshadowed trouble. For the experienced crew, the fourth day of flights was coming to an end, after which rest was to follow.

At the 91st second, with peripheral vision, the co-pilot saw a flock of birds, after which there was a feeling that the liner abruptly stopped, bumping into a concrete wall. Both engines stalled, while the left one started a fire. Having transmitted the distress signal, the crew began to check their actions against the emergency procedures map. Restarting the engines proved impossible due to the low altitude, and the runways offered by the airport controller did not guarantee success. An A320 emergency landing on the Hudson seemed like the only way out of a difficult situation. The captain of the airliner had only seconds to make a decision on which the lives of 155 people depended.

Crew

By the will of fate, the liner ended up in the hands of an experienced crew.

Captain Chesley Sullenberger, born in 1951, was due to celebrate his fifty-eighth birthday in a few days. Behind him are years of military service and a flight time of 19663 hours. Twenty-nine years of a top class pilot gave civil aviation, he was an expert in flight safety.

For forty-nine-year-old Jeffrey Skiles, this was one of the first flights on the Airbus A320. But he was perfectly prepared theoretically, because he had just finished retraining for this class of aircraft, having a total flight time of 15643 hours.

A320 landing on the Hudsonseemed to both the only possible way to avoid disaster. A transcript of the conversations in the cockpit of the liner will show how accurate and cold-blooded their actions were, which will allow the mayor of New York to name Chesley Sullenberger "Captain Tranquility." The flight attendants were also experienced, preventing panic on board. Each of them has given aviation more than 25 years.

Emergency Landing

When the smell spread through the cabin and the sound of the engines faded away, the passengers were seized with fear. Hearing the tell-tale sign of the microphone turning on, everyone hoped for a message that the plane would return to the airport and everything would be fine. But the captain of the liner announced that he was ready for a hard landing. Chesley Sullenberger turned the A320 south towards the river, although it was heading northeast along the route. The co-pilot provided the tightness necessary for splashdown. Landing on the Hudson required filigree accuracy of maneuver, otherwise disaster became inevitable. The electronic brain continued to work. The crew commander managed to equalize the balance without hitting the George Washington Bridge, and at minimum speed land the plane in front of Manhattan.

It seemed that the liner immediately rushed to the bottom. Some parts were cut off from him, people were thrown around the cabin, but after a short time, he floated to the surface like a float. A leak formed somewhere, the interior began to fill with ice water. The crew organized the evacuation of passengers. Having seized the boats, people began to get out through emergency exits to the wings. Nobody knew if an explosion was possibleairliner, but the low temperature of the water did not allow you to swim on your own. Only 10 minutes later the first rescue ferries arrived, the evacuation of the victims began, 78 of whom received various injuries. But, most importantly, everyone was alive.

Cause of accident

In history, a plane landing on the Hudson was one of eleven splashdowns. There were five casu alties. It was the fourth hit, but the company lost a $75 million vehicle. It was necessary to thoroughly study the cause of the accident and evaluate the activities of the pilots. The people of the United States immediately turned them into national heroes, and the mayor of New York presented the captain with a symbolic key to the city. But until all the circumstances were clarified, both were suspended from work. Jeffrey Skiles will be cleared to fly in April and Chesley Sullenberger in October 2009. During the entire period of the work of the National Commission, both were worried about their professional reputation.

When studying turbofan engines, it was found that the compressors were completely broken. Tests carried out with bird ingestion, which was the main cause of the accident, never led to similar results. The found fragments of protein particles in both engines made it possible to conduct DNA analyzes. It was found out that, by a tragic accident, the airliner suffered from Canadian geese, whose weight ranged from 4 to 4.5 kg. The collision occurred with a whole flock of migratory birds. 20 years before the incident (landing on the Hudson), 210 aircraft were destroyed by bird encounters, 200 people died. Incident againreminded of the need to solve an important problem.

Investigation of crew actions

Both engines failed at an extremely low altitude - 975 meters. No one ever taught how to act to the crew in such a situation. Was it possible for the pilots to return to the airport? It was this question that most of all interested the national commission on transportation safety. They lacked altitude and exactly half the time, part of which was spent studying the problem of restarting the engine. At a speed of 400 km / h, this turned out to be impossible. In seconds, the crew needed to read 3.5 pages of instructions, which is impossible in conditions of instant response. This revealed the need to simplify the list of control measures.

The landing on the Hudson was an outstanding example of the coordinated action of pilots who had never been specially trained in splashdown. There was a long discussion about whether these exercises should be included in the flight crew training program, until another incident occurred off the coast of Bali in 2013. This and other cases show how much in the air depends on the professionalism of the crew. Sullenberger and Skiles passed their exam with the highest marks.

The fate of the liner

The plane's glider stayed above the water for 1.5 hours. Moving downstream, he went under water, but he managed to be tied to the pier. During rescue and towing operations, the left engine was damaged and sank, discovered by divers only 23January. Landing on the Hudson within the city limits could have harmed him and the residents, but this did not happen. After research, the non-recoverable liner was transported to North Carolina, where it has been exhibited as an exhibit at the Aviation Museum since 2012.