wally34949

Now that we know that everyone is accounted for and safe, this accident does bring up a few questions, like, does this mean U.S. Airways is now serving free water?

But seriously, there is no way that raft would hold 150 people.

So the pilot wants to land the plane with the nose up, which means the back doors can't be opened. So are there more rafts back there that can't be used?

This serves as a good reminder to back up your lap-top before flying. Think of all the important things people had to leave behind in the overhead bins or below their seats when they evacuated. Can you imagine if your car keys were in the overhead bin?

Were the passengers allowed to take photos? Are any of the passengers in trouble for not following the flight attendants instructions?

jiffer21225

The pilot had the land the plane nose up and you cant open the back door to the plane if so the plane will sink VERY fast. I think they did a good job getting everyone off safe and sound.

wally34949

I agree. But are there life rafts back there?

Cruiseryyc

There are no life rafts on planes; 99% of the time, any crash into water would mean instant death to those onboard. This pilot did a fantastic job of landing that plane and getting everyone off.

rkkwan

The emergency slides on the plane are the life rafts. The A320 has 4 of those, in the front and rear doors. But not over the wing exits.

JamesA

As rkkwan says.
A reporter on one news channel though they were boats !
Great everyone is ok and amazing work by all the resue people. Superb.
Did note one thing in the photos and that was the very few people wearing lifevest / lifejacket ?
Saw all the people on the wing, ok, distant shot but did not see a mass of yellow/orange lifevests on them.

wally34949

The first photo I saw only showed one deplored. Another showed two, one on each side at the front. It appears the women and children were in the rafts and the men stood on the wings?

mrwunrfl

So you think that the pilot, when he was deciding on how to put the plane on the water, should have based his decision partly on the fact that there are life rafts (inflatable slides) in the back and that they might want to use them?

He should have tried to belly-flop the plane?

Actually, when I saw the plane in the water I assumed that the tail hit the water first but that it must have been a near-bellyflop else the fuselage might crack as the tail stopped and the nose kept going.

wally34949

<<So you think that the pilot, when he was deciding on how to put the plane on the water, should have based his decision partly on the fact that there are life rafts (inflatable slides) in the back and that they might want to use them?>>

I'm just trying to educate myself on how planes work. I'm sorry you have a problem with that.

mrwunrfl

You wrote about what the pilot wanted to do - land with the nose up. Did he actually say that or was that your assumption? My sarcastic reply pointed out that his job was to get the plane down safely and he would be jumping the gun if he tried to do that in a way that would optimize the use of the exits.

Anyway, this wasn't a crash. It was a "water landing".

xrae

I read in an Associated Press story that the crew did not have time to press the "ditch" button that seals off some parts of the plane where water would be able to enter (usually for air to enter the plane during flight). I wonder if the plane would have sunk as quickly if those had been sealed. I did hear an account where a passenger said water was coming in around the windows.

It's a wonder the crew had time to react at all, as quick as it all unfolded. It was amazing work by all, crew and passengers.

kybourbon

The news tonight said the pilot would be doing his first interview on the Today show Monday morning.

dutyfree

Wally-From someone who does flight attendant training every year for the FAA recertification,I thought that I would respond to your questions.Each aircraft's emergency slide can be converted to a liferaft with the ability to hold "X amount of passengers" and with an overload depending on the plane.(Example- the raft can hold 50 with a possible overload of an extra 25 persons).There is a tie line from the raft to the aircraft and it can be cut with a knife that is attached to the raft.There are some airlines that still have portable liferafts located in the ceiling compartments throughout the aircraft. It is cumbersome to drag them to the exit and would take time.

Flight attendants are taught to access the conditions before blowing the slide and fire or water are definitely "major factors". I, myself have not flown a airbus but on my airline's planes it would be impossible to open the door if the aircraft was somewhat submerged in water.If you can see water by the window of the door you don't want to open it. You would then redirect the passengers to an available exit.

The reason that most of the passengers probably didn't have a lifevest on was there was no time to prepare for an emergency in the cabin other than the brace for impact.(Remember it was 5 minutes after takeoff?) Normally, in a water evacuation you would have a few minutes to brief for assistants at the exits,reseat various people,have everyone put their uninflated vests on,explain bracing positions,etc.

And as I stated in a lounge thread, I really think that the poor copilot on this flight did not get his due. During any emergency, it truly takes both pilots to work in unison up there for a positive result.I think that the captain did an amazing job but the copilot was also there assisting him with the flying,checklists,tower,etc.

wally34949

Thanks for your reply, dutyfree. I did hear on a news report that the pilot needed to keep the nose up for landing. Imagine if the nose of the plane hit the water first.

wally34949

I did hear that they tried to open the back door but it wouldn't open and it was probably a good thing as the water would have filled the plane a lot faster if they did.

DonTopaz

From all reports, the FAs did a terrific job.

One passenger reported that the FA sitting in the rear yelled the instructions "Head down, feet flat on the floor" after the "Brace" announcement came from the flight deck. Kudos to that FA for demonstrating her professionalism and keeping her wits about her in an unspeakably trying situation. As a passenger, I would have very much appreciated that information (especially the info about feel flat, which I had not heard before.)

The nose of the plane is held up both to keep the a/c from sinking immediately and, especially, to reduce the speed at which it impacts the landing surface (in this case, the Hudson). Every plane lands slightly nose up; the video of the US flight showed an extreme nose-up landing attitude.

Gardyloo

This morning's reports are giving credit to the copilot as well. He was driving and was the one that saw the birds just before impact. The pilot took over right away, and made the assessment that neither return to LGA nor diversion to TEB was practical, so the Hudson was the best alternative. He picked his spot (near the midtown ferry terminals) knowing there was a better chance of pickup by doing so. One thing to note is that the plane was very heavy, as it had a full fuel load just having taken off. The pilot would have had to do a severe nose-up profile just to keep COG in the right place, but not so severely that there would have been a risk of the fuselage splitting if the tail end hits too hard too soon. Pretty masterful job.

As far as I know, not opening the aft cabin doors is SOP in water landings, and if water had been seen coming in around the forward doors they would have been inop too.

I'd also assume that as the flight was planned to go to CLT no safety briefing on the use of life vests was including in the pre-flight announcements, so there wouldn't have been time to show everybody what to do; having inflated vests and trying to get out of the over-wing exits could have spelled disaster.

Our son (NYC OEM) was one of the authors of the emergency response plan used by the authorities on Thursday; his co-worker was the one cited by the Mayor on TV that afternoon. He said everybody was pretty pumped at the outcome. "Drill, baby, drill" is good advice among emergency people on the ground as well as cabin and flight crews.

Momliz

I read that one passenger rushed to the back and tried to open the rear door, but was prevented by the FA stationed there.

There is a good recap here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/ny...8plane.html?hp

xrae

Were the flight attendants the ones who deployed the slides/rafts?

Gardyloo, I know you are proud of your son!

esm

Thanks for the explanation dutyfree and Gardyloo. I heard on NPR yesterday that the flight simulators don't have anything like this event (gliding) for practice. I only caught the end part of the interview so I'm wondering if this is accurate.