# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/81 "2009-01-16T02:24:27Z")
A thought that occurred to me regarding all the various types of watercraft (ferries, tugboats, small boats) that converged at the plane within minutes: no one could have known that the plane wasn’t about to explode. It was full of jet fuel, after all. So those boat operators are even more heroic than at first glance. All they thought about was, get to the plane, get to the people, help the people, and not their own safety. What a great story this whole thing is! ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/82 "2009-01-16T02:32:59Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > 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. That’d be fine, but you’d have to make Samuel L. Jackson the jerri-curled minister of something or another, just so he could be the one handing out the awards. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/83 "2009-01-16T02:41:38Z")
All commerical pilots are bad asses. Ever listen to any black box tapes from downed planes? None of them contain what would be coming out of you and I were we driving a giant tube full of people into the ground. They all sound like “Tried X…X failed…Trying Y…No luck, Trying Z…Damn, try…CRASH” They all have balls that big, Sully was just lucky. ---
**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, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/84 "2009-01-16T02:42:41Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > All commerical pilots are bad asses. Ever listen to any black box tapes from downed planes? None of them contain what would be coming out of you and I were we driving a giant tube full of people into the ground. They all sound like “Tried X…X failed…Trying Y…No luck, Trying Z…Damn, try…CRASH” They all have balls that big, Sully was just lucky. Still he made choices there, and his choices were the right ones. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/85 "2009-01-16T02:58:06Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Lets also give some love to the Captains of those ferries who were on the scene by the time the doors were open. Not that they don’t deserve thanks, but it [wasn’t _quite_ that quick](http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregorylam/3200086900/). ---
**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, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/86 "2009-01-16T02:59:45Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > Not that they don’t deserve thanks, but it [wasn’t _quite_ that quick](http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregorylam/3200086900/). Well it’s still cool. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/87 "2009-01-16T03:06:29Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > All commerical pilots are bad asses. Ever listen to any black box tapes from downed planes? None of them contain what would be coming out of you and I were we driving a giant tube full of people into the ground. It’s the flight training what does it - maybe you wouldn’t keep trying to survive but I know I would, and I wouldn’t stop until the airplane stopped flying, one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/88 "2009-01-16T03:36:37Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > Not that they don’t deserve thanks, but it [wasn’t _quite_ that quick](http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregorylam/3200086900/). What does that picture demonstrate about the response time? That was obviously taken JUST after the crash, as the plane is still riding very high in the water. > [@gaffa](#): > > The airframe should be in good shape. Apparently they have cables strung from the tugs to the tail to try to minimize drift. There is a tug with a yellow crane structure on it. Do planes have places to attach ropes and cables welded on? What about by the doors? 'Cause I was thinking that it would be pretty dangerous to try to load people from a plane to a boat with them both bobbing around independently. Being able to run a line from one to the other would help a lot. > [@](#): > > President Bush is probably really annoyed this happened. Doesn’t look like his last opportunity to convince everyone to see his administration’s record his way will get much attention. Well, isn’t one of his big themes “I kept America safe?” He can cite this crash as evidence! You know what’s weird? I heard the whole story on the radio while driving home from work, but hadn’t seen any pictures until just now. I had visualized the plane as being much larger than the rescue boats even though I know how big a NY Waterways ferry is, and thought I had some idea of how big that type of plane is. I guess I had never considered them relative to one another. Fortunately, it’s extremely rare to see them side-by-side! And I’d fully support a Presidential Medal of Fucking Coolness. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/89 "2009-01-16T03:45:08Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > What does that picture demonstrate about the response time? That was obviously taken JUST after the crash, as the plane is still riding very high in the water. It demonstrates that the boats weren’t there by the time the doors opened which was what was said upthread. Wasn’t meant to take anything away from the responders and the volunteers either – I’m sure the doors were popped seconds after landing, and nobody would expect them to be on top of the plane as soon as it touched down. I was impressed by how quickly they seemed to get there, how many of them there were and how close they got to the plane. It was just in the interests of accuracy, and because those are some pretty awesome pictures I wanted to link to. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/90 "2009-01-16T04:11:40Z")
One of the things mentioned in the news coverage was that the plane passed over a bridge at just 900 feet. Don’t know if there are any pilots reading, and maybe they can weigh in, but I assume that there is a very narrow range of speed between just fast enough to avoid stalling and slow enough to not flip the plane over when the engines hit the water. When they release the flight data, it will be interesting to see what that margin was. ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/91 "2009-01-16T04:16:51Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Not to spoil all the fun, but how long before PETA starts screaming about the dead geese, … > > … They’re **air kittens**. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/92 "2009-01-16T04:18:03Z")
I am a perpetual flight student and I rank this as one of the greatest (important) stunts of all time. The plane could have easily broken up and, even if it didn’t, some people should have drowned and yet they didn’t. There were so many things that could have gone more wrong that it is almost unthinkable that everyone, even an infant, made it out alive. That water was very cold. It is almost like everyone on the Titanic made it off safely. A comparison is the crash is Air Florida Flight 90 into the Potomac River in 1982 where all but five people died. The pilot greatly deserves every accolade he gets. The Sioux City Iowa crash for United Airlines Flight 232 involved similar skills but not everyone made it through that. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/93 "2009-01-16T04:18:32Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > One of the things mentioned in the news coverage was that the plane passed over a bridge at just 900 feet. Don’t know if there are any pilots reading, and maybe they can weigh in, but I assume that there is a very narrow range of speed between just fast enough to avoid stalling and slow enough to not flip the plane over when the engines hit the water. When they release the flight data, it will be interesting to see what that margin was. Probably about the thickness of the pilot’s underwear and how well it expands to contain fecal matter, is my guess. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/94 "2009-01-16T04:22:23Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > All commerical pilots are bad asses. Ever listen to any black box tapes from downed planes? None of them contain what would be coming out of you and I were we driving a giant tube full of people into the ground. They all sound like “Tried X…X failed…Trying Y…No luck, Trying Z…Damn, try…CRASH” They all have balls that big, Sully was just lucky. If I had landed that plane, it would have been luck. And there’s no such thing as luck. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/95 "2009-01-16T04:30:14Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I am a perpetual flight student and I rank this as one of the greatest (important) stunts of all time. The plane could have easily broken up and, even if it didn’t, some people should have drowned and yet they didn’t. There were so many things that could have gone more wrong that it is almost unthinkable that everyone, even an infant, made it out alive. That water was very cold. It is almost like everyone on the Titanic made it off safely. A comparison is the crash is Air Florida Flight 90 into the Potomac River in 1982 where all but five people died. The pilot greatly deserves every accolade he gets. The Sioux City Iowa crash for United Airlines Flight 232 involved similar skills but not everyone made it through that. Well, in the case of Air Florida the plane hit a bridge (and some cars) on the way down, also, there was ice in the river. It began to broke up before hitting the water. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/96 "2009-01-16T04:32:27Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > They all have balls that big, Sully was just lucky. Absolutely not, and I nominate this for the most ignorant post of the week. You don’t get LUCKY in such an almost impossible situation. What he pulled off was deliberate and extremely skilled and it had to be. The only amount of luck he might have had is the absence of a ship in the way. Did you read his credentials upthread? There are few people that could pull off such a thing and, while we have examples of similar things in history, none are like this one. It was a worst case scenario that he pulled off. Don’t underestimate that. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/97 "2009-01-16T04:52:09Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > Well, in the case of Air Florida the plane hit a bridge (and some cars) on the way down, also, there was ice in the river. It began to broke up before hitting the water. That is all true but the current situation could have been easily been met with the same thing due to pilot miscalculation. The end result suggests that it was easy for the pilot to find a “runway” even if it is the Hudson River and yet avoid any obstacles in its path and that is miraculous. We are talking about Manhattan and the rest of NYC after all. That is miraculous at low altitude let alone the favorable results. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/98 "2009-01-16T05:09:18Z")
May I respectfully add that there must have been at least two pilots on board, and that while PF deserves much praise, the other almost certainly helped. ---
**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, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/99 "2009-01-16T05:14:38Z")
> [@PaulParkhead](#): > > May I respectfully add that there must have been at least two pilots on board, and that while PF deserves much praise, the other almost certainly helped. This all went down in less than six minutes. Those guys worked with amazing composure and calm in less time that it takes me to eat a piece of beef jerky. I’m sure the FAs contributed too. A great job all round. ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493/100 "2009-01-16T05:17:45Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Just make sure you have ol’ Sully and his copilot on the sticks and throttles 😉 (You bet he’s going to be teaching a required course at the USAirways training center.) A bad-ass Academic, that’s cool… According to “Pilot praised for ‘masterful’ landing linked upthread,” he already was tasked with exactly that. > [@Shagnasty](#): > > I am a perpetual flight student and I rank this as one of the greatest (important) stunts of all time. The plane could have easily broken up and, even if it didn’t, some people should have drowned and yet they didn’t. There were so many things that could have gone more wrong that it is almost unthinkable that everyone, even an infant, made it out alive. With all the things that could have gone wrong, it sounds like the only better outcome for this trip would have been actually landing in Charlotte. Everyone on that plane was lucky given that a lot was beyond their control, but Captain Sully seems to be a man who was equipped to take advantage of every single circumstance in his favor. So hell yeah, the world heart Sully. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-bus-down-in-the-hudson-river/481493.md?page=6)