The rescue of passengers from US Airways Flight 1549. (Gary Hershorn/Reuters)One of the more remarkable images from the Hudson River landing of the US Airways flight on Thursday is the photo of passengers standing calmly on the floating wings, waiting to be rescued.
But for people who study disasters, there is nothing surprising about the cool, collected demeanor of the passengers.
Amanda Ripley, author of the book “The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes — and Why” (Crown, 2008), notes that in this plane crash, like other major disasters, people tend to stay calm, quiet and helpful to others.
“We’ve heard from people on the plane that once it crashed people were calm — the pervading sound was not screaming but silence, which is very typical,” said Ms. Ripley, who for years covered floods, plane crashes and other disasters for Time magazine. “The fear response is so evolved, it’s really going to take over in a situation like that. And it’s not in your interests to get hysterical. There’s some amount of reassurance in that I think.’’
In her book, Ms. Ripley chronicles how individuals and groups behave during disasters ranging from the tragic Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire to the World Trade Center attacks. World Trade Center survivors, for instance, describe the stairwell evacuations as quiet and orderly, despite the chaos around them.
“You don’t hear the mayhem and hysteria that we would expect,’’ Ms. Ripley said. “That doesn’t mean people aren’t frightened. It means their brain is paying attention to everything going on and they are waiting for direction.’’
While much has been made of the pilot’s quick thinking and landing skills, Ms. Ripley notes that one small decision — the fact that he took time to get on the intercom and warn passengers to brace for the impact, played an important role in saving lives.
“The thing he did that is particularly important, given how the brain works, is he warned people,” she said. “Sometimes you get pilots or crew who don’t want to tell the passengers what’s going on because they don’t want them to freak out. But any warning, even as short as that, can really put your brain in the right mind frame. We know people are so obedient in disasters, so it’s really helpful to get that kind of command.’’
Ms. Ripley says she is curious to learn more about the behavior of the flight attendants and crew given how quickly everyone appeared to evacuate the plane even as it began to sink. While passengers tend to be well behaved in an emergency, their one weakness is that they tend to move slowly, she says. Flight crews are trained to scream orders at passengers to get them moving.
“I suspect we’ll hear more about the crew,” she said. “I would be surprised if the flight attendants weren’t screaming to people to get out of the plane. And the pilot showed a remarkable ability to perform and remain lucid and focused under extreme stress.”
Based on her interviews with disaster survivors and workers as well as studies of human behavior during times of stress, Ms. Ripley offers several simple steps we can all take to improve our odds in an emergency. She notes that fire drills and reviewing safety instructions prepare your brain for an emergency situation. People who take a leadership role in a disaster will invariably be followed.
Of all passengers involved in serious plane accidents between 1983 and 2000, 56 percent of them survived. Small steps in an airline emergency can improve your odds. Count the number of rows between you and the emergency exits so you’re prepared for an emergency. Listen to the flight attendant and read the safety card every time so your brain is programmed to respond.
“I think, in some ways, it’s a great and marvelous example of the ability of human beings to perform really well under extreme duress,” Ms. Ripley said. “We all needed a good story, particularly one that takes place with the Manhattan skyline in the background.”
To learn more, read my recent Well column, “Learning to be Your Own Best Defense in a Disaster” and then take a quiz to Test Your Disaster I.Q.
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From 1 to 25 of 48 Comments
Ms. Ripley errors with this statement: “Sometimes you get pilots or crew who don’t want to tell the passengers what’s going on because they don’t want them to freak out…..” The flight crew is trained to alert passengers to an emergency landing and would never withhold this information. I know this because I’m a retired flight attendant. Kudos to the entire US Airways flight crew for a job well done.
FROM TPP — She is speaking about her experience covering airline crashes in the past. But yes, you are correct that the crew is trained to alert passengers during an emergency.
— MaryAnnThis is an amazing story — I’m very glad that the situation panned out like it did. This is an image that will be remembered for years to come.
— JBRecently on a flight I watched the flight attendant do her routine with the vest like so many times before and realized that nonetheless, if push came to shove, I would be clueless.
So I went to them behid the curtains and asked to try on the vest. At first they refused vehemently, saying watching how it was done was the same.
“Ah, but here you are wrong,” I argued, “it is not the same thing to watch something and to do it yourself!”
They pointed out that soon every passenger would want to try the same. I told them I would stay behind the curtains and tell no-one there.
They were younger than I and finally I persuaed them to let me practice with the vest hands-on. That thing is complicated, but now I feel I stand a better chance in an emergency.
I withhold the name of the airline to protect the flight attendants.
— SusannaFrom cable news: There was a passenger that stayed on board to the end to organize people, getting off last. He was hospitalized for exposure and as of yesterday afternoon still lacked feeling in his limbs, but seems on his way to recovery.
— JimFFrom the pictures, it appears that most passengers standing on the wings were not wearing life vests. Only passengers in the life rafts near the nose of the plane were wearing them. Those who were most precarious, on the wings, are without jackets. Why?
— Peter RothsteinIt would be a grave mistake for the pilots not to alert passengers about impending impact.
— DNHow many of the passengers from this particular plane has this expert interviewed?
A family from the plane was interviewed this morning on the today show (don’t recall name, but were a husband and wife with two small children) and the husband said that the atmosphere on the plane after the crash landing was very panicky and chaotic, people climbing across seats, running into each other etc in desperately trying to get out.
— ChrisI always count the rows between myself and the nearest exit. Gives me some peace of mind … even though a few times later I’ve tried to remember the number and couldn’t (although none were in an emergency).
— EK“While much has been made of the pilot’s quick thinking and landing skills, Ms. Ripley notes that one small decision — the fact that he took time to get on the intercom and warn passengers to brace for the impact, played an important role in saving lives.”
That would be the co-pilot giving the warnings. There are 2 pilots on that aircraft working as a team.
— MichaelI’m perplexed as to why in an emergency, “people tend to move slowly”… I can’t imagine being in a submerged plane that is rapidly filling with water, and moving slowly!!
— akiraSusanna,
Thanks for posting your experience.
— edwardI hope people sitting next to me will now understand why I politely ask them to review the emergency evacuation card and pay attention to the flight attendants instead of reading their magazines and books. Every time I sit down in a plane, I review the card and know where the exits are — no guarantees but I want every advantage to be in 56% of survivors AND be in a position to help others.
— JohannIAIt isn’t always so rosy an experience. I was on a PATH train in 1985 where panic ensued when the electric motor under one car exploded. My experience was that people panicked from the visble threat (loud noise and billowing black smoke.) We were stopped at the Harrison station at the time with the doors open. Because there was an immediate available exit, people rushed the doors - briefcases and shoes flew through the air in the mad dash out. I stayed seated until the rush stopped and walked out.
— W SwiftI heard there was a passenger who swam back to shore, went back to his apt, showered and still made a reservation at Swifty’s. Overheard telling his waiter, “Quickest I’ve ever gotten back from the airport!” Only in New York!
— lucky“One of the more remarkable images from the Hudson River landing of the US Airways flight on Thursday is the photo of passengers standing calmly on the floating wings, waiting to be rescued.”
I commend everyone involved for a miraculous recovery, but I think it’s a stretch to assume they were calm based on that photo. Just because they’re standing on the wing doesn’t mean they are calm … what choice did they have? Plunge into the water? Run around in circles waving their arms?
— ehI was an ER nurse for many, many years. When emotions elevate due to any change, I tend to get calmer and calmer. How I would react in a situation like yesterday’s, is anybody’s guess. I just know that when patients were brought to my ER in extremis, I was calm, cool and collected under the extreme pressure. Triage, listening and taking control of the situation helps in the given circumstance.
— NurseTerryhttp://www.caringisnotenough.net
Akira says: “I’m perplexed as to why in an emergency, “people tend to move slowly”… ”
Read Ms. Ripley’s book! It explains this phenomenon in some detail … her book is fascinating ( and could conceivably save your life, or someone else’s one day) … and it’s an easy read. I’m a librarian and a colleague recommended it to me.
I finished it just days before the plane crash in Denver in December … and I was struck then, as I am now, with the sense that the aircrafts’ crews in both cases must have acted with extreme professionalism.
In the Denver incident, there didn’t seem to be much recognition in the media of the role they must have played… I’m glad to see more recognition of it in this instance.
— RobinThey don’t have inflated life vests because it would take from the available space on the wing?
— crisI agree with comments by “eh” that the passengers on the wings were hardly likely “calm.” I am curious why it seems the first class passengers had flotation ramps and rafts where the coach class did not. Shouldnt there be ramps for them? Second, did the folks on the wings have life vests on? If not, why not? Third, I hope the airline industry figures out a mechanism to dislodge the ramps from the plane in the future rather hoping that one of the survivors has a knife and that there is enough time to cut the rafts free.
— mphI will encourage my wife to really pay attention to the instructions before flying
— Ezequiel RomeroI am a retired flight attendant after almost 17 yrs. What an outstanding job this entire crew did. Every airplane meets FHA requirements so it must have enough crew on board to be evacuated in 90 seconds. This is why different planes require different numbers of flight attendants on board. Each type of equipment has a different design. It is your job as a passenger to check out where the exits are, doors, windows, how many seats away from a exit If there were an emergency at night, you would have to feel your way, so counting seats is imperative. Pay attention…
— sandraAs a ex-flight attendant, I, along with everyother crew member, just sank emotionally when I saw this. You know what that crew member is feeling. It’s as though you walk thru the entire episode and sense their emotions. The airlines does not want you to be afraid to fly, so they demo the emergency thing, and then serve drinks. It is up to you to pay attention. Life vest, oxygen, over-head rafts, exits. This is all you have control over, and it may save your life…
Hard to know how calm they were standing on the wing, given it’s a static picture. Not to mention the fact that it was freezing cold out there, and it’s not like people are going to jump into the freezing water!
As someone else mentioned a man, I believe he was the one often quoted in Row22, who said that a woman with a baby on her shoulder was crawling over the seats to get out.
— KenCWhere were the life rafts? When the water is that cold, you really don’t want to be in it, even if a life vest (I didn’t see them in the pictures either) keeps your head well above water. Most of the people who died in the Titanic disaster died from cold water, not drowning.
— Jonathan KatzI always try to sit in the emergency row when I fly economy, and I have asked airlines why they don’t have practice over-wing doors for us to practice opening (in the airport, of course). The doors are usually marked as being 40-44 lbs, and some have instructions to throw them out the window while others have instructions to put them across the seats (how this would work when a crush of people is trying to get out, I don’t know). I always try to think of how I should orient my body and my hands (left or right on top) to get that door open.
I once posed this question to a flight attendant and he told me that the most important piece of safety equipment in any plane is the flight attendant, and that the attendant would get the door open before any passenger would be able to figure out what was going on.
While I’d like to believe that, I’d also like to be confident that I could get the door open quickly if I needed to.
— Webster BeagleI’d like to nominate #14 for comment of the year.
— eh