"One way of looking at this might be that for 42 years, I've been making small, regular deposits in this bank of experience, education and training. And on January 15, the balance was sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal."
"One way of looking at this might be that for 42 years, I've been making small, regular deposits in this bank of experience, education and training. And on January 15, the balance was sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal."
Definitely a graduate of the Bob Hoover school of aviation.
Listening to the air traffic radio conversations around that landing was incredibly interesting. I love how calm sully was through the whole thing. I've borrowed one of his phrases permanently which is "cannot comply." Atc kept asking him to redirect to X or Y and he would reply "cannot comply." It may be part of pilot training but I love it.
In reply to dculberson :
It is an important thing to remember, that many people (and likely even some pilots) don't realize. The pilot of the plane is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to safety, if they don't think it's safe, it's entirely their prerogative to ignore any ATC direction.
To rephrase Hoover a bit, it's also far better to fly under complete control in to some trees, than to stall spin into a nice open field a bit farther away. "trying to make it" is the cause of a lot of unnecessary deaths in aviation (at least private)
Day one of pilot training: Aviate, navigate, communicate.
An air traffic controller friend used to tell the story from his PPL training days about their class in night forced landings. The drill went something like this:
cheers
R
Had he not been a glider pilot, it could not be pulled off.
Something else that I think isn't mentioned enough was also the emergency response once he did land. The passneger ferries got there is mere seconds. SECONDS. Dropped what they were doing and were on scene before the NYPD and Port Authority was even mobilized. Passengers giving jackets off their backs, tossing life jackets to people on the wings.
Just like Dunkirk, the best rescues aren't planned government ops!
I wonder how AI would have handled that landing?
aircooled said:In reply to dculberson :
It is an important thing to remember, that many people (and likely even some pilots) don't realize. The pilot of the plane is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to safety, if they don't think it's safe, it's entirely their prerogative to ignore any ATC direction.
100%. In field maintenance as well.
I'm lucky enough to work in an environment where we get to make unconventional repairs to aircraft. I cannot tell you how MANY times I have said "Sir. The final authority as to whether or not this plane is safe is you. If you're not comfortable then don't take it. We can find another solution."
You'd be surprised how many times I get that shocked look that tells me they're just realizing/hearing this for the first time in their lives...
It sucks to have to re-do a repair (and get everything re-approved), and yes I do go home REALLY irritated at the aircrew sometimes, but 100% of the time it's better than the alternative.
914Driver said:Had he not been a glider pilot, it could not be pulled off.
I still don't understand how glider pilots fit in the craft they fly. The sheer weight of their balls has to throw off the COG something fierce...
I followed Sully with interest after his famous landing. Aside from his exceptional skills as a pilot, he's a man of impeccable character. He never sought the limelight. Told what happened factually, without any added drama. By everything I observed, remained his same quiet self through all the subsequent hubbub. Later went on to lobby for airline safety passionately.
Sully has always been a class act, and that is the part I respect the most.
I remember hearing about it on the news when it happened, but it wasn't until pretty recently that I was able to comprehend just how amazing a feat it was–and how badly things could have gone.
There's also the story of Air Canada Flight 143, which ran out of fuel and glided onto a closed airstrip that just happened to be hosting a Winnipeg Sports Car Club event. Amazingly, there were no fatalities.
In reply to Colin Wood :
thanks for the reminder of the Gimli Glider. i haven't thought of that one in a long time.
I used to make runs to La Garbage several times a month. I am still amazed at how he saved that plane and his passengers. There is literally no place on that island to put even a Cessna down, except in the water. Another testament to Sully's flying skills is the fact the airplane is in surprisingly good condition. It's currently in the Carolinas Aviation Museum, which is due to reopen this summer.
This is a pretty cool event as well--
And what they don't tell you is that they flew it back out again afterwords.
We've all shown a lot respect and I agree he is an awesome guy but can we now poke fun?
Another example of great flying skills, although the pilots made some errors that led to the situation becoming critical.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Transat_Flight_236
In reply to Karacticus :
That thing that amazes me is the locals hadn't stripped the plane bare before they were able to fly it back out.
In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :
We have a commercial pilot and two military pilots in our club, one commented: "I can drive any airplane, this summer I learned how to fly".
Edit: Consider this; My glider had a 42:1 glide ratio. If I was 1,000 feet above the ground and unaffected by winds, I could make another 42,000ft. of ground travel. That's 7.95 miles of landing options. Something with an engine glides like a Volvo wagon. At 5,000 ft., if you can see it, you can land it.
914Driver said:Had he not been a glider pilot, it could not be pulled off.
This got me wondering about this:... "The other night, A mate and I were talking about Thermal Imaging as a way of aiding us to find thermals on an XC flight - Another electronic flying instrument.
We wondered if you could carry an instrument that would indicate where warmer rising air was - or at the very least a flight instrument that could show heat differences on the terrain below us, it might aid us in making the decision on where a thermal would likely be triggered. "
Interesting rabbit hole.
Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Karacticus :
That thing that amazes me is the locals hadn't stripped the plane bare before they were able to fly it back out.
My recollection is that flying it back out was a pretty fair size project-- field change of both engines, interior removal to reduce weight, laying down pierced plate to reinforce the ground. I doubt it spent much time unattended!
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