25 thoughts on “U.S. Air … and Water”

  1. Pingback: Us Air
  2. Amazing. That pilot is the hero of the year. He did absolutely everything right.
    Now the stupid goddam birds, on the other hand…

    And the next time I fly, I’m going to pay attention to the flight attendants instead of thinking ‘blah blah blah blah’.

  3. A huge salute to the former Air Force F-4 Phantom pilot!

    A water landing with a commercial jet aircraft is the most difficult landing to do successfully. One wing just a touch low or the nose not high enough or too high and disaster! This pilot got it just right!

    And as the proper Captain, he twice checked the cabin to make certain everyone had left. He was the last to leave the swamping aircraft.

    The biggest problem with ditching a jet are the engines that hang below the wings. If one hits first or they both dig in quickly, it makes for a very rough landing. This can easily cause the fuselage to breakup on impact. This pilot must have hit the water at just the right angle and got the two engines to act as skis to more gently slow the aircraft down before they dug into the water.

    And praise to the NYC Fire Department, NYC Police, Coast Guard, Ferry Boats and others that helped in rescuing all of the passengers and crew!

    I have flown across the Atlantic 8 times and the Mediterranean 6 times. You always wonder for a moment what would happen if…??

    The last water landing that I know of that was so successful was a four engined prop job that had to ditch between Hawaii and the West Coast. They circled a Coast Guard weather ship for a couple hours before ditching after sunrise. All aboard survived even though the tail broke off on impact and quickly sank. I have seen the film of this landing.

    Guard SGT (ret)

  4. Guard SGT, are you referring to a water landing that occurred in the late fifties
    where they “foamed” the water first to avoid a fire? If so, my dad was part of
    the rescue for that waterlanding, and I have seen the film at the Coast Guard
    museum in Seattle.

  5. if they would open a season on seagulls there would a lot less bird strikes.

    the air force lost an AWACS at elmendorf AFB in Anchorage AK over a flock of Canadian geese.

    i checked and it wasn’t your fault bella.

  6. Canada Geese is a big problem in the New Jersey, New York area.

    In NJ the animal rights wacos, er, I mean groups would rather ground all planes than harm another goose.

    “In another news story, PETA charges U.S.Airlines for illegal Fois Gras production.”

  7. The Air Force over the years has lost many planes to bird strikes and had many more severely damaged.

    An F-111 once landed after a major bird strike with the entire nose radome collapsed looking like spaghetti.

    An F-4 Phantom had a bird strike that came through the front canopy severely injuring the pilot. He still isn’t sure how with a severely injured shoulder he managed to lower the landing gear.

    I once read an article in the Air Force flight safety magazine about mis-reported bird strike events in which the report turned out to be very funny. I wish now I had saved that issue. It was very funny!

    Once the Air Force lost a KC-135A Stratotanker due to a cow strike! All of the crew did manage to escape. Several cows wandered onto the runway as the tanker was landing. The tanker hit one of the cows with the main landing gear. The gear folding back under the wing. The tanker then slid off of the runway and caught fire. I think the co-pilot went head first out of the side window, caught a pitot probe and used that to flip upright landing on his feet! A move most gymnasts would be proud of!

    Guard SGT (ret)

  8. too Many Geese… they sit around in oregon by the thousands, I think they need to be thinned out some. a farmer can loose a field of grass in less then 2 days, they quickly become a mud field.

    my question is was the landing gear down… I would have to believe NOT…

    good point Derek… if it was still the bush administation, news would report it’s Al-Qiuta, or a terrorist attach…

    Most likely the bush administration gave up on fighting the terror of it all… and blames the dem’s for all this…

  9. The animal lovers are glad the murdering pilot didn’t return to LaGuardia and kill even more birds than he already did.

  10. Dear What The L:

    You are correct that the landing gear was up.

    But now who are you going to hate after the 20th? You sound like you have a very bad case of BDS.

    Guard SGT (ret)

  11. Let’s remember there were TWO pilots in that cockpit, both as busy as one armed paper hangers while getting that plane down safely!

    Those passengers could see that they were going to ditch in water…….why are so many standing on the wing with no life jackets on?

  12. The pilot is a hero and it amazes me the response time of the boats/ferries that were there to aid. It’s a “Make you feel Good about Life situation, Instead of all Doom and Gloom”.

  13. @ Blondie: The plane was in the air for three minutes. It happened very quickly. That’s what happens when you have a pilot and two birds. No protection whatsoever…

  14. Were there no other crew members than just the captain? Was there no co-pilot, no cabin crew who got the people out safely?

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