WASHINGTON, June 9, 2009
Hero Pilot: Bird Warnings Not Much Help
Capt. Sullenberger Says Experience Key To Safe Landing; Transcript Of US Airways Flight's Cockpit Recording Released
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Play CBS Video Video A Look At Airline Safety Transcripts reveal what Capt. Chesley Sullenberger said during the emergency landing in the Hudson River in January. Unfortunately not all pilots are as skilled. Nancy Cordes reports.
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Bob Benzon, NTSB investigator in charge, not pictured, plays an animation of the flight path of US Airways flight 1549 which suffered multiple bird strikes and was forced to land in the Hudson River, Tuesday, June 9, 2009, at a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearing in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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Capt. Chesley Sullenberger testifies at an NTSB hearing in Washington, D.C., June 9, 2009. (CBS)
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Passengers wait to be rescued from the sinking US Airways jet shortly after it made a successful water landing on the Hudson River, Jan. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Steven Day)
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Interactive Miracle On The Hudson All survive as commercial airliner makes emergency landing in Hudson River in New York.
"In my experience, the warnings we get are general in nature and not specific and therefore have limited usefulness," Sullenberger said during a hearing by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The board began three days of hearings into safety issues arising from the Jan. 15 accident, including efforts to prevent bird strikes and the ability of aircraft engines to withstand collisions with large birds. Other issues include whether the Federal Aviation Administration's aircraft certification standards are adequate to protect passengers in event of a forced water landing.
In the case of US Airways Flight 1549, the Airbus A320 suffered a rupture near the tailcone that sent water gushing into the cabin after its forced landing on the Hudson River. All 155 aboard managed to escape the sinking craft.
A cockpit voice recorder transcript released by the board showed Sullenberger and co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles were admiring their surroundings less than a minute before their plane struck a flock of Canada geese and lost thrust in both engines.
"What a view of the Hudson today," Sullenberger remarked.
"This is the captain, brace for impact": Transcript Of Cockpit Voice Recording From USAir Flight 1549 (pdf)
"Yeah," Skiles responded.
Thirty-three seconds later Sullenberger said, "Birds," Skiles said, "Whoa," and there is the sound of thumping.
Sullenberger credited his 40 years of experience for his calm demeanor in the cockpit, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.
"I think that it allowed me to focus clearly on the highest priorities at every stage of the flight without having to constantly refer to written guidance," he said.
The pilots in the deadly Colgan Air crash in Buffalo in February had significantly less experience and the captain had failed five flight tests, reports Cordes. That led the FAA today to order its inspectors to immediately focus on training programs at regional airlines like Colgan.
Meanwhile, US Airways Flight 1549 passenger Billy Campbell, a Woodland Hills, Calif., businessman who was in a window seat in the second-to-last row, said the engine he could see out his window after the bird strike was a "bonfire."
Sullenberger told the board that he didn't attempt to return to New York's LaGuardia Airport because he thought, "I cannot afford to be wrong."
"I had to make sure I could make it before I chose that option," he said. Instead of risking a crash in a densely populated area, he glided the plane into the river.
The Airbus A320 had climbed to about 900 meters when the plane hit a flock of Canada geese and lost thrust in both engines.
15:30:15 Flight Warning Computer: [sound of continuous repetitive chime begins and continues to end of recording]Campbell testified that water came flooding in his window when the plane hit the river. Someone also cracked open a rear door.
15:30:15 Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS): caution terrain.
15:30:16 Skiles: hundred and fifty knots.
15:30:17 Skiles: got flaps two, you want more?
15:30:19 Sullenberger: no let's stay at two.
15:30:21 Sullenberger: got any ideas?
15:30:22 LaGuardia departure control: Cactus fifteen twenty nine if you can uh....you got uh runway uh two nine available at Newark it'll be two o'clock and seven miles.
15:30:23 EGPWS: caution terrain.
15:30:23 Skiles: actually not.
15:30:24 EGPWS: terrain terrain. pull up. pull up. ["pull up" repeats until the end of the recording]
15:30:38 Sullenberger: we're gonna brace.
"My concern was that the plane was going to sink and we were going to be stuck in the back," he said.
In recent decades, many bird populations - including Canada geese - have rebounded thanks partly to environmental regulations. Air travel has also soared since deregulation in the late 1970s encouraged greater competition and lower fares.
Board member Robert Sumwalt, a former US Airways pilot who flew A320s, said he "never really worried about birds bringing my airplane down."
"Now this has caused a whole new focus on this," Sumwalt said in an interview.
With more planes and more birds in the sky, "we have a situation here - almost a numbers game - where eventually something is going to happen," Michael Begier, national coordinator of the Agriculture Department's airport wildlife hazards program, said in an interview. "We're very fortunate that Flight 1549 was not a catastrophe. It is a warning shot."
The FAA is testing bird-detecting radar that might help airports manage nearby bird populations. Some experts have also suggested aircraft engines should be designed to withstand bigger birds. Newer engines on commercial airliners have to withstand an 8-pound bird, but Canada geese can weigh twice that.
Disrupting bird habitats close to airports would probably not have helped Flight 1549. An analysis of remains of Canada geese in the plane's engines showed that they were migratory - perhaps from Labrador, Canada - not part of the Canada geese population that lives year-round in the New York area, according to the National Zoo's Migratory Bird Center. Moreover, the plane-geese collision occurred several miles from the airport.
Sumwalt told the hearing that he regrets saying that he expected Campbell to testify that the rear door of Flight 1549 was opened by flight attendant Doreen Welsh, who was seated near it. In fact, Campbell did not testify that Welsh had opened the door and instead called her "courageous."
Welsh has said in interviews and congressional testimony that a passenger pushed past her and opened the door, but no passenger has been identified.
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© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.
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See all 32 CommentsWhat he pulled off was the result of excellent training, communication and cooperation belween himself and his crew .... You got that ???
Posted by MrBag at 2:19 AM : Jun 10, 2009
And zero-credit to the do*chebag in the back of the plane that opened up the rear compartment door that let the water in; after he shoved the flight attendant out of the way after warning him not to do so.
(This fact was in the earlier reports within a week after the crash.)
Posted by willcad at 8:59 AM : Jun 9, 2009
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My sentiments exactly.
I've flown this scenarios several times in simulation and, while I'm nowhere near as experienced a pilot as Captain Sullenberger, it's a near thing at best. Maintaining a nice energy curve in readiness for landing and avoiding the bridge are conflicting objectives.
Additionally, the landing the captain made was remarkable by any standards. He saved the lives of his crew and passengers by keeping a clear head under the worst of possible situations by pulling off a ludicrously difficult landing. He also saved many hundreds of lives on the ground by not attempting to return to the airport (or some other airport) as most pilots would have done.
If saving hundreds of lives by performing a seemingly impossible feat under the worst of circumstances isn't heroic then clearly I don't know the meaning of the word.
Clearly, he performed his job heroically. Why not celebrate a real life hero?
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Any news on the condition of the birds ?
Warning warning there is bunch of birdyyyyyyy
They should keep their minds on their job at all times.
Besides, Kate Hudson is all right, but there are better actresses out there.
' .. 210 million soldier jungle swamp monkey prostitutes and toddlers of all ages sowed and reaped and weaved and recycled cuffs and cages and guns and grenades (microscopic, macroscopic, or other) for non-consensual non-pornographic war at all the street corner and trail crossing sick bed partys and gatherings and rallys in the world (because some good angels asked them to?) .. 210 million civilian jungle swamp monkey prostitutes and toddlers of all ages sowed and reaped and weaved and recycled non-consensual non-pornographic lunches jargons bouquets and gardens buses blooms and toys baskets jingles (microscopi, macroscopic, or other) at all the same street corner and trail crossing sick bed partys and gatherings and rallys in the world (because the same good angels asked them to?) .. for a little while: the good angels highlighted some sports and puzzles and games and gallerys with some spotlights on some soldier jungle swamp monkeys, and for a little while: the good angels highlighted some sports and puzzles and games and gallerys with some spotlights on some civilian jungle swamp monkeys .. sometimes visitors to that little small scale local mall of malls prefered the non-consensual non-pornographic cuffs and cages and guns and grenades (microscopic, macroscopic, or other) .. and sometimes they prefered the non-consensual non-pornograpic lunches jargons bouquets and gardens buses blooms and toys baskets jingles (microscopic, macroscopic, or other) .. overall: whether the guest had a student or teacher type of charisma, or a prisoner or guard type of charisma: most were typically at ease and well absorbed the educations they wanted and easily left behind the ones they didn't regardless of the buffet or banquet or the section of the mall it was in .. '
' .. i like the stuff they sell for my windshield what keeps the water beading, i'm blind without it, i like often replacing my windshield wipers, i really really dislike diminished visibility .. i wish some kid would invent such a solution of water beading that i can see from here to my auto's destination and even reach across .. so's i can just quit traveling altogether .. i'm a cave dweller, it's a cardboard cave almost, but a cave just the same .. it's temperature controlled, so i don't strain my garden for a little air conditioning, it's moisture controlled, so i don't strain my garden for a little air conditioning, it's immobile, so i don't have to travel forever any more swiftly than the earth itself, and i've the time to bask and savor each and every cottage sized bouquet of math or science or culture or art i near .. '
' .. ten years ago, i thought i wanted a smallish house, in a smallish neighborhood, of art and craft hobbyists and furniture and knick knack enthusiasts, and near to a medium size factory or warehouse or mall to work in, and a tiny community center where folk go to help each other shop and gift bargains and other educations and surgerys small or large and such .. now it's a lot different .. i want a small or medium homeless garden full of milkcrate or lego rooms and houses constructed and deconstructed and woven and rewoven, disposable and interchangable and recycleable and portable, and everyone shops and gifts bargains and educations and surgerys and such for a living .. '
Posted by vgbledblabl at 7:45 AM : Jun 9, 2009
I took the time to read your comment, and I agree with everything you said!
You aren't a nutjob.
Posted by Scooter68 at 1:36 PM : Jun 9, 2009
I hate to tell you this scooter, but most people skip over posts that are too long. It could be very informative, but for some reason I find myself moving over them. I think it's because most of the ones that are really long, they are usually written by the nutjobs. : ) I 'm not saying that you are a nutjob, I'm just saying that anyones that I have read, that is usually the case, so I stopped reading them. Nothing worse than starting to read this long drawn out comment, only to find out the person is CRAZY. Maybe divide it up into smaller ones. : ) I better stop now or I will look like one of them.
Posted by summarex at 9:57 AM : Jun 9, 2009
What do you mean?
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