Planes Designed To Survive Water Landings

(CBS/ AP)  The survival of everyone aboard the plane that landed in the Hudson River might seem like a miracle.

CBS News correspondent Bob Orr said the incident "has all the earmarks of being a real heroic job by the pilots."

"You have to understand you have compromised engines, or no engines, no altitude, no speed and no room," he said "If you look at the Hudson River, down on a boat, it looks pretty wide. When you're in the air and you see it, it's a very closed area and you have hit that ribbon of water."

But planes are designed to survive water landings, and a skilled crew can use those design elements to keep a ditched aircraft afloat and the passengers safe, according to Bill Waldock, a professor of safety science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz.

"You've heard of airworthiness," he said. "Planes are also designed for crashworthiness."

Waldock, who is also a pilot and an aircraft accident investigator, said planes, like ships, will float "as long as you don't let the plane get full of water. It's the buoyancy provided by the air in the plane."

In this case, the plane that went down Thursday was an Airbus 320, which has a low wing. This allowed most of the fuselage to remain above water, contributing to the aircraft's buoyancy, he said.

Waldock said the escape slide that is sometimes used to evacuate passengers from planes on tarmacs can also double as flotation devices for aircraft, as it did Thursday.

But he emphasized the skill displayed by the crew in that operation, starting with the pilot.

"He put the tail in the water and gradually slowed the airplane down as much as possible," Waldock said. "You're still going to get a jolt when it slows down enough, but if you do it right, and let the tail hit first, the tail will absorb some of the energy of the impact and bleed it out."

He said a water landing is by no means intrinsically soft. "If you've ever done a belly flop off a diving board, you know water is as hard as concrete. If you hit it wrong, it's an incompressible force."

After the pilot eased the plane into the river, Waldock said, "The flight attendant side of things came into play. You cannot open the cabin door. If you do, the airplane will sink quickly because it fills with water. Your procedures after a ditching are to use the overwing exits and evacuate the passengers out on the wing."

He added: "Initially people may have been panicked, but the flight attendants got control of the cabin quickly."

Waldock said he could not think of another situation where everyone aboard a large plane that ended up in the water survived.

Other factors he cited were the relatively calm waters of the river, compared to an ocean landing, and the quick response of ferries and other vessels that arrived to remove the passengers.

"This is a tremendously unusual event," he added. "Normally when you put a large transport plane in the water, most of the time they do not have a good outcome."

Other major accidents in which planes ended up in the water included two US Air flights taking off from LaGuardia Airport that ended up in Flushing Bay, one in 1992 in which 27 people died and wing ice was the cause; and another in 1989 in which two people died when the plane ran off the runway.

Boston was also the site of two water accidents involving airplanes. In 1982, a DC 10 slid off a runway into Logan International Airport, killing two, and in 1960, 62 people died when a plane took off from Logan and crashed into the water after starlings damaged the engines. Ten survived.

[tibu987]

I hope that "Sully" Sullenberger will be the pilot on my next flight.

I agree with his wife when she said, "He is a pilots pilot".

Sullenberger deserves all the accolades he receives.

[martin9p2]

I imagine the airline will hire you to coduct safety training.

[pullchord]

Martin, you must have misread my comment. "Sully" made a textbook perfect landing. And my suspicions have been confirmed about the engines. They did separate from the wings upon impact...a good thing in that this relieved the drag on the airframe when it contacted the water and greatly reduced the decceleration forces. I would imagine there is design factor for this situation which allows the engines to break away instead of having the wings tear off at the root.

[martin9p2]

pullchord, .... I am pretty sure you''re an idiot. Pilot saves the day and you''re saying he made a mistake? You are thinking about the wrong thing at the wrong time. Fantazmagorical job, Pilot Sully. You knew just what to do.

[pullchord]

Mr. Waldock, I strongly disagree and do not believe that would be the correct procedure for a water landing. Allowing the tail to touch first would cause the front of the craft to slam down even harder. Regardless of the runway surface, normal approach procedures would be the rule.

[pullchord]

One problem with water landings in planes designed like this one - the engines'' location. They are the first things to touch the water, and they will immediately ''catch'' because of their shape. I will be interested to see if the engines separated from the wings when they hoist this aircraft out of the water. Were that "ditch switch" to include something that would jettison the engines, the total weight would be reduced allowing for slower touchdown speed, and the underbelly of the aircraft would be ''clean'', allowing for a smoother touchdown on water. Aircraft such as the MD-80 or DC-9 would seem to fare better in this situation. Nonetheless, Captain Sullenberger performed nothing short of a miracle.

[swingset4u]

I''m sorry, I need to make a correction..
Now because these pilots saved them lets (should read)

Now because this CREW saved them lets

[swingset4u]

TO ALL THE CREW OF THIS AIRCRAFT: You are hero''s! Calm thinking, dedication and reaction you displayed thru your training ensured the survival of your passengers. KUDOS!!!!! JOB WELL DONE!! Standing ovation Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap

Now because these pilots saved them lets see how many lawsuits arise from their lives being spared! sad....

Flight Attendant (Retired)

[dumbocrap]

H@ll yes...... that pilot is a hero....he deserves the medal of honor...... he saved 155 people from certain death by remaining calm...and using his experience to react in a situation...this is the kind of person everyone in america should want to be like.