US Airways plane felled by birds, crashes into Hudson River

[fondybrewfan]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/a...p_on_re_us/plane_in_river

 

How exactly does a bird take out 2 engines? No reports of injuries as of yet which would a minor miracle. Probably took a talented pilot to crash the plane into the river rather than buildings

[owbc]

Apparantly there were no serious injuries.

 

According to an eyewitness, the plane landed so smoothly on the water that he thought it was a training exercise and not an emergency.

[NeedMoreFans]

It may have hit a flock of birds, which would explain how both engines were taken out. Amazing that everyone got to shore safely.

[fondybrewfan]

I just thought planes were designed to withstand even a flock of birds, otherwise it seems like this kind of thing would happen more often.

[hawing]

From the link in fondybrewfan's lead post:

Government officials do not believe the crash is related to terrorism.

There's obviously nothing funny about this incident (I was just thinking how this story has set back even farther my timetable for ever flying again), but the thought of this being related to terrorism sounds a bit absurd.

 

Edit: Gah, way to squander post #9000.

[And That]

I'm glad no one got hurt, though this is pretty ironic timing after it was announced just a day or two ago that for the first time since the invention of the commuter jet, major U.S. airlines have gone two full years without a fatality on board, covering more than a billion fliers.

 

There's obviously nothing funny about this incident (I was just thinking how this story has set back even farther my timetable for ever flying again), but the thought of this being related to terrorism sounds a bit absurd.

 

Perhaps Al-Qaeda is training pigeons? I guess that would be a figurative and literal flipping of the bird to America.

[fondybrewfan]

From the link in fondybrewfan's lead post:

Government officials do not believe the crash is related to terrorism.

There's obviously nothing funny about this incident (I was just thinking how this story has set back even farther my timetable for ever flying again), but the thought of this being related to terrorism sounds a bit absurd.

Well I don't know, what if the bird was an invasive species? I also think birds can be terrorists just ask Alfred Hitchcock.

[ttsather]

Sean Conneried?

(More seriously, I'm absolutely stunned and impressed that there were no serious injuries. Wowza.)

[cubfan1126]

I am amazed at the route this plane had to take to land safely on the Hudson River. Laguardia is in Queens right next to the East River (east of Manhattan) while the Hudson is west of Manhattan. Laguardia's 2 runways are parallel and perpendicular to Manhattan.

 

Huge kudos to the pilot.

 

http://maps.google.com/ma...0.11621,0.219727&z=12

[PKBadger]

Sort of puts things in perspective. I flew US Airways on Tuesday and sat in an exit row both times, thinking, "what are the odds that anything is ever going to happen?" I'm a strong guy and would definitely be able to perform the necessary duties, but still...

[homer]

I flew USAir yesterday, sat in an exit row, and thought the same thing.

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

Since no one was seriously hurt or killed... I expect something great from Colbert about these enemies of America... Geese.

[whizkid]

How birds can down a jet airplane

[homer]

There are many airports that hire dogs to run around and scare away the birds - especially during migratory seasons.

[DHonks]

I'm amazed, as I don't recall another majoy crash in which people survived. I don't count the Denver one. I always figured that the impact with water would break peoples' necks

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

This is one of those stories where you get a bit of a lump in your throat as you're watching the survivors talk on the news - the one guy they interviewed on CNN was talking about how he easily could have been one of those tragedies where a young person with a loving family is killed and it all comes to a halt, and to be alive and realize the value of what you have, etc...

 

It also sounds like this pilot should be put up for sainthood... guy remained calm, followed procedure, and was the last one off the plane... you think there's 155 families grateful for that man?

[nate82]

I'm amazed, as I don't recall another majoy crash in which people survived. I don't count the Denver one. I always figured that the impact with water would break peoples' necks

The angle of impact is probably what saved the people on this plane and that the pilot was able to ditch the plane in the river rather than crashing into the river.

[Gobias Industries]

Perhaps Al-Qaeda is training pigeons? I guess that would be a figurative and literal flipping of the bird to America.

Iranian Geese imo. Dubya has a few more days to make his move.

[jjgott]

I bet someone didn't have their tray table in its full upright and locked position.

[bucks2281]

This is the 4th commercial airliner to crash in NYC this decade. Kind of a scary thought...

[burniebrewer]

Just read that the pilot is from Oregon, WI.

[Carolina Brewer]

I flew that exact route back home to Charlotte in September, which is scary. You take off from LaGuardia, and we headed north to about the Bronx and then crossed over it. Then headed west just into NJ over the Hudson, but not but a few miles into NJ, and then back south past Manhattan. The flight path was probably not all that unusual for this route. My brother had a manager from his company on that flight.

[Patrick425]

Just read that the pilot is from Oregon, WI.

I think it was actually the co-pilot that was from WI.

[PaulRigdon]

This is so amazing. Not only did the pilot safely land the plane and saved the 150+ people on board but its also amazing that he was able to avoid hitting any buildings. In all seriousness the pilot and crew was able to save 1000's of lives and avoid any pandamonium in the country. If the plane would have crashed into a skyscraper in manhattan I couldnt even imagine what it would have been like. The first few hours would have been filled with fear of terrorism and our country, maybe even the world would have been shut down. That pilot is a true American Hero!

 

We should all sing to him...

 

 

Look at what's happened to me,

I can't believe it myself.

Suddenly I'm up on top of the world,

It should've been somebody else.

 

Believe it or not,

I'm walking on air.

I never thought I could feel so free-.

Flying away on a wing and a prayer.

Who could it be?

Believe it or not it's just me.

 

It's like a light of a new day-,

It came from out of the blue.

Breaking me out of the spell I was in,

Making all of my wishes come true-.

 

Believe it or not,

I'm walking on air.

I never thought I could feel so free-.

Flying away on a wing and a prayer.

Who could it be?

Believe it or not it's just me.

[pitchleague]

it's amazing that everything "worked out" in the end. Somebody had a pair of broken legs--that was the worst that I read about.

 

I got a good chuckle out of this: my wife and I were watching CBS on the New York feed (on Directv) and they were doing one of their commercial break "coming up on the 10 o'clock news" kind of ads, which was all about the landing of the plane. The very next commercial aired was an ad for the Bahamas with these kids jumping off an airplane onto a sandy beach with big smiles on their faces.