The US Airways Airbus A320 airliner as it floated down the Hudson River. (Photo: Mike Segar/Reuters)The splash-down of a US Airways jetliner into the Hudson River on Thursday, with all 155 aboard safe, seemed nothing short of a miracle. Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III, a veteran pilot, managed that most challenging of feats, landing on water, allowing passengers to walk off the plane without injury. Two other major crashes in recent years — a crash on takeoff in Denver last month and a fiery crash in a thunderstorm in Toronto in 2005 — also resulted in no deaths. We asked a panel of experts if survivability in plane crashes is more dependent on the talent of the pilot or on the aircraft design.
- Frances Fiorino, Aviation Week
- Patrick Smith, pilot
- William R. Voss, Flight Safety Foundation
- Ben Sherwood, writer
Survival Is The Rule
Frances Fiorino is senior editor for safety & training at Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine. She covers airline and general aviation issues. She holds a private pilot license and is a survivor of a small plane crash (an engine failure at night) over populated Long Island.
Many factors made the landing of Flight 1549 a miracle: a serendipitous mix of a superb pilot, a skilled cabin crew, engine and aircraft technology, and proximity of first responders. It was good luck that Captain Sullenberger, not only a very experienced pilot, was also very knowledgeable about aviation safety, having been a trainer for new pilots and an accident investigator.
“Most people don’t believe it, but accidents are survivable.”
But technology is a factor, too. Modern engine designs are more robust and better able to contain bird strikes or operate at 70 percent power, depending, of course, on the severity of the strike. And then there was the proximity of first responders to Flight 1549. Police, fire, Coast Guard boats were at the scene in minutes, preventing serious injuries once the passengers were out of the plane.
Most people don’t believe it, but accidents are survivable (this is perhaps because more emphasis is placed on fatal accidents). A National Transportation Safety Board study investigated 568 accidents involving U.S. air carriers from 1983 to 2000. Of the 53,000 people involved in the accidents, 51,207 survived, with 2,280 fatalities. In addition, more than 80 percent of those involved in 528 of the 568 accidents survived.
Passenger conduct also makes a difference. Flight 1549 underlines the importance of looking at the emergency instructions before departure. How many of us really pay attention to instructions that start “In the event of an over-water landing?” Yes, count the rows to the nearest exit, read instructions for opening the emergency hatch and look for the flotation devices.
Lucky Day
Patrick Smith, a commercial airline pilot, is the author of Salon.com’s weekly Ask the Pilot air travel column; his book of the same name was published in 2004.
First and foremost, I in no way mean to diminish the performance of my fellow pilots on US Airways Flight 1549 in yesterday’s emergency landing in New York’s Hudson River. They performed superbly.
Having said that, however, I wish the news media would stop calling this a miracle and referring to the captain as a hero. He and his crew did exactly what they are trained to do, what they are expected to do and what they are supposed to do. They are not heroes, they are professionals. Two extremely qualified pilots were both 100 percent responsible for preventing a tragedy. Indeed what the incident confirms for us is that airplanes are safe, and the industry is made up of true professionals.
“More than anything, luck played a tremendous role in the positive outcome.”
More than anything, luck played a tremendous role in the positive outcome. It was daylight, visibility was good and the pilots had room to maneuver the plane and find a suitable place to land. If this had taken place at night, in bad weather with no place to touchdown, it would have been catastrophic.
A flock of birds, if it proves to be the reason for engine failure, flying into a plane’s engine is fairly common, but rarely dangerous. Birds dismantling both engines is very unlikely. The combination of a two-engine failure during the day with room to maneuver is, in a way, both a worst-case and best-case scenario.
I realize that a jetliner crashing into the Hudson is a spectacle, but the news media should know that water landings are not that unusual and in this case, it was in many ways anti-climatic. What is more impressive is the action of the pilots in the moments before touchdown, maneuvering a jet in which both engines were out. If there’s a miracle, that was it.
And in the end, if there’s anyone to thank, it’s professionalism and plain old luck.
Planes Are Much Safer Now
William R. Voss, chief executive of the Flight Safety Foundation, has served as director of air traffic systems development at the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. He is a certified air transport pilot, a certified flight and ground instructor, and a qualified FAA control tower operator.
The job that Captain Sullenberger and his first officer, Jeffrey Skiles, did to land the jet intact in the Hudson River is a testament to their skill and training. The cabin crew, as well, did their job and got every passenger off the plane within a few minutes of the ditching.
The fact that no one died on Thursday — or in Denver when a Continental Airlines plane crashed off the runway and was significantly damaged, or in Toronto when the Air France flight careened off the runway and caught on fire — however, is not due to luck or coincidences.
Aviation safety professionals have been working for decades to improve the safety of every aspect of commercial flight, including increasing pilot and cabin crew training and improving aircraft design.
The greater use of flame-resistant materials and better training for aircraft rescue and firefighting crews at the airports has made significant differences for survivability. Sometimes safety improvements have come about as a direct response to crashes in which investigators were able to pinpoint problems.
For example, smoke detectors in cargo holds became required after the Valujet crash in 1996. Similarly, the use of fire-resistant materials on aircraft became mandatory after the US Airways crash in Los Angeles in 1991 and the installation of smoke detectors in bathrooms after the Air Canada incident at Cincinnati in 1983. Other improvements are more evolutionary, like the development of better terrain warnings and collision alarms.
Of course, having competent regulators to ensure that all aspects of commercial aviation meet a certain minimum safety standard is a central factor in the survivability of these crashes.
Passengers, It’s Up to You
Ben Sherwood, the executive director of www.TheSurvivorsClub.org, is a former executive producer of ABC’s Good Morning America and senior broadcast producer of NBC Nightly News. He is the author of the new book, “The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life.”
In the Miracle off 47th Street, the US Airways pilot is deservedly hailed as a hero. So are the rest of the crew who shepherded 150 passengers to the exits and the rescuers who rushed to their aid. Perhaps overlooked in the survival equation is the surprising fact that ordinary travelers did something remarkable too: They managed to get out of the sinking plane. Aviation safety experts say that’s no easy feat.
Here’s why: Most passengers don’t pay much attention to safety briefings or the information cards in every seat back. Indeed, the Federal Aviation Administration estimates that 61 percent of fliers don’t even listen or look. They tune out or believe (mistakenly) that they know what to do in an emergency.
“Rehearse what you would do, especially during the first three minutes of flight and the last eight minutes.”
Incredibly, passengers only have 90 seconds to escape from a burning jet. In that time, the temperature in the cabin can reach 2,000 degrees. When a plane ditches in the water, there may be a bit more time to evacuate — or even less. It all depends on the damage to the fuselage.
Knowing what to do in an emergency and how to do it is critical. When the F.A.A. studied 2,000 people going through simulated evacuation drills, they found “a failure of passengers to understand and properly execute emergency procedures.” Some people even try to take their hand luggage while trying to flee. Up to 30 percent of the deaths in airplane accidents could have been prevented if passengers knew what to do and were able to take action, some safety experts believe.
So the next time you get on a plane, listen up. Rehearse what you would do, especially during the first three minutes of flight and the last eight minutes when 80 percent of accidents occur. The pilot, crew and rescuers may perform miracles. But getting off the plane alive ultimately depends on you.
18 Comments
great perspectives — i’m with Patrick Smith.
this is vital too — “This Miracle Brought to You by America’s Unions” — http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/16/this-miracle-brought-to-you-by-americas-unions/
From the pilot and flight crew to the air traffic controllers to the ferry crews that rushed to the scene to the police and firefighters, etc — all Union employees.
— amberglowA question - Do birds fly at night?
— JBHats off to all those involved, quick thinking, calm, and then inspiring!
An airplane design and safety question? Once the plane was safely in the water, why weren’t the inflatable slides sufficient to handle all the passengers? What would have happened in open water with no lifeboats and 60% of the passengers not wearing life vests?
— Robert OlexoThank you, Patrick Smith, for bringing some sense to the hysteria and mangling of language of the last day. Now, how do you like that the editor titled your section, “Lucky Day”?
Someone on the news last night said it was a miracle that anyone survived, then in the next breath, that the ditching of the plane and evacuation were “textbook.” So which was it?
— JustinMr. Wilson has a point, although I’ll pardon any of the other 154 people on board who think Capt. Sullenberger a hero.
It would be better if planes never crashed, but this story is
— Bruceinspiring. Everyone connected, from the Airbus engineers and the people who made the rivets to the passengers in the exit-row seats and the crew who got 150 people out of the fuselage in 90 seconds, did their jobs as professionals — and humans. It was NOT a miracle, a gift from God that makes the impossible possible. It’s a demonstration of what people at their best can do.
Double bird strikes may be rare, but not infrequent. See below from RyanAir website regarding one a little over 2 months ago on Nov 10, 2008:
Ryanair Flight FR4102 from Frankfurt-Hahn to Rome-Ciampino suffered multiple bird strikes to both engines on its landing approach to Rome-Ciampino airport early this morning (Monday, 10th November 2008). The aircraft landed and was brought to an emergency stop on the runway by the Captain. All passengers exited the aircraft safely and have been brought to the terminal building. The aircraft and its engines are currently being inspected by Ryanair engineers to assess any damage as a result of this incident.
— MikeA further update will be available at 10.30am GMT with any further news or information available.
Additional Information:
Passengers on Board
- 166 passengers
- 6 crew
In addition to Luck, Fate or God, those aboard US 1549 were saved, in part, as a result of the training, standards and procedures of a well-run airline. US Airways is to be commended and I’ll fly them first and foremost from now on.
— John LaDouceurI have been thinking about the AIRBUS 320, and the magnificent engineering that had to have gone into it. I am sure that an L-1011,(and they were still flying a bit over ten years ago) would have disintegrated in the same situation. The captain had seconds to push the ditch button, which closed the craft’s openings , as well as to deploy the devices that would slow the plane’s descent. But those devices and that button (a button!) were there, the life and death difference between sinking and floating
— SueYes, birds do fly at night. I once had a birdstrike at 9,500 feet at night in an Air Force C-5. I didn’t believe it until we landed an a crew chief spotted the bloody streak. In fact, two C-5s in the course of time, have suffered two engines damaged right after take-off and barely landed on the two remaining ones. Both were very heavy weight take-offs and involved geese or gulls.
MK
— MikeEveryone is talking about the Miracle on the Hudson. My college religion professor said that often a miracle can be something extraordinary or even something ordinary that happens in the nick of time. Amazingly he said that there were accounts of the Red Sea or Sea of Reeds parting, but explained that the miracle of the Exodus was that the sea parted just when the Israelites needed it to, because if it had happened too late they would have been captured by the Egyptians.
It is because of this that I respectfully submit that we have mislabeled the now famous water landing as the “Miracle on the Hudson” and should instead refer to it as the “Miracles on the Hudson” because there were several ordinary and extraordinary events that occurred to save the passengers lives.
First, the pilot, Captain Sullenberger had 29 years experience, served in the military as a pilot and one of his hobbies is flying gliders, gliding, so he is used flying without power in the real world instead of in a simulator.
Second, they managed to miss a bridge and did not land in the heavily populated surrounding area. Landing on the water was the best option since they couldn’t return to LaGuardia and they didn’t have enough power to make it to Newark or another airport.
Third, the plane landed tail first. If it lands nose first, the fuselage breaks and everyone is in the water.
Fourth, passengers tried to open the rear door but couldn’t. Fortunately they couldn’t, otherwise the plane would have taken on water quicker and the plane would have sunk rapidly.
Fifth, they were able to open the doors near the wings which allowed most of the passengers to stand on the wings instead floating in the water. Remember most of the victims of the Titantic died from the freezing water instead of drowning.
Sixth, the plane landed where there was a virtual flotilla of ferries, tour boats and tug boats which rapidly came to aid the passengers before police and fire and rescue crews could be deployed. Had the plane landed a few miles further up the river it would have been a disaster because that area was less traveled and because most of the passengers failed to get life jackets or flotation cushions from the plane. The make shift armada of ferries and tugs gave the passengers life jackets.
Seventh, the plane landed full of fuel without an explosion. When you hit water at a high speed it is like landing on concrete so it is amazing that the fuel tanks did not rupture and/or explode.
Eighth, the passengers were on TV laughing, smiling and saying that this was the best landing they ever had.
Ninth, not one single life was lost.
Tenth, if you still don’t believe in miracles, then consider that just after the college bowl games when in many a game the difference between victory and defeat, as opposed to life and death was a Hail Mary pass, and in the midst of the NFL playoffs when the NY Giants Super Bowl dreams were dashed, the captain of the tug boat responsible for fishing 56 people out of the water was named after the legendary Packers coach — Vince Lombardi. The NY Giants don’t get to go to a Super Bowl next month, yet what happened yesterday is certainly worthy of a celebration befitting a world champion.
— josephIt is about time that the engineers who designed the airplane got some credit for designing an airplane that could be controlled and landed safely on the water without engine power.
— Dale R. ReedOh, I’m sorry, I must of missed of something, did the unions teach those pilots to fly? Do unions bail out city governments and airlines when they have financial troubles? NO, it’s the tax payers, stupid. That article, amberglow, should be called “This Miracle Brought to You by the American Tax Payer.” As per usual, some union yoyo is trying to weasel their way into somebody else’s glory.
— Arnold JonesBirds do fly at night, especially geese, which are thought to be the culprit in this case. Night air is calmer and geese prefer to fly then because they conserve energy with the reduced wind resistance evident in the evening.
— OliveThe one word that does capture the conduct of the captain and the whole crew best is professionalism. To me , the word evokes such virtues as well-honed skills central to one’s occupation; dedication to, and joy, in performing one’s job; wise judgment; timely corrective action in a crisis to prevent disaster; personal integrity; and service to the clients ahead of one’s own interest. If we need examples to show the best face of America to the world, this is one outstanding case , though I submit that it is replicated daily in less dramatic contexts everywhere in this land. How many in the outgoing Bush Administration or in the Congress or among the morally bankrupt, self-promoting financial and corporate” titans” of America can lay claim even to a fraction of these virtues without inviting instant derision from millions ? How many even in the incoming Obama Administration are not already tainted by the absence of one or more of these virtues? I –Vipan Chandra.
— VCContrast the USAir performance with the deplorable performance of another airline whose passengers and crew deported an Arab family for doing exactly what Mr Sherwood recommended - planing their exit strategy.
— VinceJB–
With obvious exceptions such as owls, most bird species don’t fly at night. But Canada geese on their migrations often do, at least when there’s a bright moon. And snow geese fly at night even in heavy overcast and rain. So encounters between aircraft and geese can happen at night too.
— Gerry“It was NOT a miracle, a gift from God that makes the impossible possible. It’s a demonstration of what people at their best can do.”
But Bruce - isn’t that the definition of a miracle itself?
— christineThe less we mangle language, the more we can make sure dangerous situations are survivable. There are no miracles - there are well-designed planes, well-trained pilots and staff, passengers who did not panic, and trained boat captains and crew. The combination should teach us a story: preparation and lessons learned from past experiences can make the difference between life and death. Insert words like miracles and it diminishes the power of people in situations such as these. The pilot is a highly skilled professional with excellent reasoning ability. This is what we need more of, not so called miracles.
— redplanet