# Air Bus Down in the Hudson River **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 15, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493 "2009-01-15T21:05:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/41 "2009-01-15T23:19:38Z")
[Flickr’s apparently loaded with photos of the crash already.](http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/15/plane-crashes-in-hudson-first-pictures-on-flickr-tumblr-twitpic/) ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/42 "2009-01-15T23:23:27Z")
Can we use some of the bailout money to good purpose and give this pilot a huge honking bonus? And kudoes to all the boats who rescued the passengers…they were on scene almost immediately. Win win all around, guys. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/43 "2009-01-15T23:23:52Z")
You got to admire how well the “US Airways” logo stands out. You can’t buy this sort of advertising. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/44 "2009-01-15T23:26:02Z")
> [@Emily\_Litella](#): > > the news commentators are saying bird strikes happen a lot and there’s not much that can be done to prevent them. - Mandatory RO post about ‘those darn unions’ \* :rolleyes: I think Reagan should fire them. The birds. All of 'em. Yeaaaaah. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/45 "2009-01-15T23:32:54Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Keep it out of the river, certainly. It’s full of fuel and other crap that’s best not dumped into a major waterway. I think it would also be what’s called “a hazard to navigation”. The Hudson’s regular ferries and water taxis were among the rescuers; it would be poor thanks to leave a big plane cluttering their workspace. Wonderful fast action, and correct action, by all involved, but especially the pilot. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/46 "2009-01-15T23:33:00Z")
Isn’t there a straightdope column about water landings by jets? ---
**Author:** ![Improvisor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/50afbb/32.png) [@Improvisor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improvisor)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/47 "2009-01-15T23:41:31Z")
Hurray for Sully!!! From ABC > [@](#): > > In the aftermath of the crash, the US Airways pilot, Chesley Burnett “Sully” Sullenberger III, was praised for his efforts at landing the plane softly on the river’s surface, allowing rescue crews to get to the passengers before the plane sank. > > “It would appear that the pilot did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river, and then making sure everybody got out,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference late today. > > The mayor said Sullenberger “walked the plane twice to verify if anyone was onboard” before exiting himself. Walked the plane twice to make sure everyone got out… bad ass. [Link to article.](http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6656804&page=1) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/48 "2009-01-15T23:42:08Z")
Regarding the cases of plane crashes were all people survived, one has to note that it is more difficult for all to survive when the crash is on water than on land. Is this the first time when all the passengers and crew survived when a big commercial jet plane crash landed on water? I do remember that in the case of the African plane that got hijacked a few years ago, it broke apart when it crash landed at sea and many people died even though the ocean was calm. > **[Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Airlines_Flight_961)** > > Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was a scheduled flight serving the route Addis Ababa–Nairobi–Brazzaville–Lagos–Abidjan. On 23 November 1996, the aircraft serving the flight, a Boeing 767-200ER, was hijacked en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi by three Ethiopians seeking asylum in Australia. The plane crash-landed in the Indian Ocean near Grande Comore, Comoros Islands, due to fuel exhaustion; 125 of the 175 passengers and crew on board, including the three hijackers, died. This is th The aircr... I think the US Airways pilot deserves a medal. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/49 "2009-01-15T23:44:54Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Damn, now I can no longer secretly snicker when the pre-flight routine gets to the part about “… in the event of a water landing…” Yeah, Tyler was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/50 "2009-01-15T23:47:09Z")
> [@Improvisor](#): > > Hurray for Sully!!! > > From ABC > > Walked the plane twice to make sure everyone got out… bad ass. > > [Link to article.](http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6656804&page=1) Yeah man, that dude is hard fucking core. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/51 "2009-01-15T23:48:11Z")
Perhaps Obama will create a “Presidential Medal of Bad Assery” or “Presidential Metal of Fuckin’ Coolness.” The “Presidential Medal of Freedom” doesn’t really fit (and has been tainted by some of the awardees in recent years) and the pilot really **does** deserve a lot for what he did. ---
**Author:** ![Improvisor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/50afbb/32.png) [@Improvisor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improvisor)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/52 "2009-01-15T23:52:39Z")
> [@Improvisor](#): > > Hurray for Sully!!! > > Walked the plane twice to make sure everyone got out… bad ass. Missed the edit window… Some of the other passengers were saying by the time they got out they were walking up out of waste deep water. So this guy walked a sinking plane twice in waste deep water to check for people. Extra BAD ASS. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/53 "2009-01-15T23:57:13Z")
So did anyone actually USE the seat cushions? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/54 "2009-01-16T00:08:03Z")
That guy better not buy his own drinks for like a year. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/55 "2009-01-16T00:10:35Z")
> [@ZebraShaSha](#): > > But are the birds ok?! Sadly, [the Goose did not survive](http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/070606/goose_l.jpg) That pilot drinks free for life. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/56 "2009-01-16T00:29:33Z")
Any chance there’s any footage of the landing anywhere? ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/57 "2009-01-16T00:35:56Z")
> [@Astroboy14](#): > > So did anyone actually USE the seat cushions? Yes. At least one guy I heard interviewed said he picked up the seat cushion when he headed for the exit door. Other people grabbed the jackets. This is the first time I’ve heard of a commercial airliner ditching in the water with no fatalities. From past incidents, or at least this one: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESJx5bJIP5o](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESJx5bJIP5o) it seems really difficult to come in fully level and not catch a wing, cartwheel, disintegrate. Excellent piloting here. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/58 "2009-01-16T00:41:21Z")
> [@Improvisor](#): > > Some of the other passengers were saying by the time they got out they were walking up out of waste deep water. So this guy walked a sinking plane twice in waste deep water to check for people. Extra BAD ASS. From what I’ve heard, the Hudson isn’t a model of cleanliness, so could that explain the “waste”-deep water? Otherwise, it was deep enough to be up to his _waist._ I just didn’t want to waste this comment. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/59 "2009-01-16T00:44:22Z")
There have been a couple water landings in which all the passengers survived: > [@](#): > > On 21 August 1963, an Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-124 ditched into the Neva River after running out of fuel. The aircraft floated and was towed to shore by a tugboat which it had nearly hit as it came down on the water. The tug rushed to the floating aircraft and pulled it with its passengers near to the shore where the passengers disembarked onto the tug; all 52 on board escaped without injuries.[11] The survival rate was 100% > > In October 1956, Pan Am Flight 943 (a Boeing 377) ditched northeast of Hawaii, after losing two of its four engines. The aircraft was able to circle around USCGC Pontchartrain until daybreak, when it ditched; all 31 on board survived.[12][13] The survival rate was 100%. From [Wikipedia’s article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ditching#Survival_rates_of_passenger_plane_water_ditchings) on water landings, which amazingly, has already been updated with today’s US Airways ditching! Several others have had passenger survival rates better than 50%. ---
**Author:** ![Improvisor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/50afbb/32.png) [@Improvisor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improvisor)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/60 "2009-01-16T00:48:51Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > From what I’ve heard, the Hudson isn’t a model of cleanliness, so could that explain the “waste”-deep water? Otherwise, it was deep enough to be up to his _waist._ > > I just didn’t want to waste this comment. 🙂 Touché [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493.md?page=4)