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Let's Hear It for the Plane
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The pilot deserves every kudo he's getting but don't forget to thank the plane.
It was a masterful piece of flying by Chesley B. Sullenberger, and no praise is too much. But let’s hear it for the plane too, the mute partner in what was a double act. Yesterday, plane and pilot were at the top of their game. At the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse they are surely sharing the relief that no passenger was lost. They are also remembering how long it took to get the A320 recognized for the fine machine it is.
In the 1980s, when the A320 was created, nobody in the U.S. would have seriously believed that Boeing, whose 737 dominated the world market for this size of plane, would see domestic U.S. airlines ordering large numbers of a European jet.
View a Gallery of the Crash and Rescue of Flight 1549.
Early on, Boeing’s tactic was to argue that the A320 was too radical. This was because something was missing in the cockpit: the “yoke” (or, in the old parlance, the joystick) directly in front of the pilot. Instead, the A320 used a new technology, pioneered in fighter jets, called “fly by wire” in which the pilot flew by using what looked like a Nintendo lever at his side. The commands went to the controls electronically—that’s the “wire” part.
The Boeing lobby said this robbed the plane of the old pilot “feel” when the yoke was almost an extension of the person, providing a physical link. Try telling that to Captain Sullenberger—interestingly enough, since he used to fly fighters, he probably loved the Nintendo stick. In fact, the A320 felt just like any other plane to fly, and it came with very sophisticated electronics to sense what the plane was doing at all times.
The A320 turned out to be so successful that Boeing had to extensively redesign the 737, which was a 1960s design, to remain competitive. Nonetheless, when Jet Blue began flying it chose an all-320 fleet, and other domestic carriers, like US Airways, have large fleets of A320s.
Yesterday’s crash demonstrated just how well built the plane is: to survive, intact, the impact on water at around 170mph, and for the fuselage to retain its integrity for long enough not only to get all passengers off but to float for several hours down the Hudson, is astonishing. This is a contingency that no testing can simulate, and that no designer wants to encounter.
There is something else that passengers have learned to like about the A320. The cabin is seven inches wider than that of the 737. Size does matter: it may not seem much, but it adds up in seat width and greater comfort.
Clive Irving is Senior Consulting Editor at Conde Nast Traveler, specializing in aviation. He has flown the A320 in a simulator and earned an “Honorary Captain” certificate for making a perfect approach and landing at JFK—thankfully, he says, not for real.
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ejhansen71
You are 100% right on. The Airbusplane - as well as all planes made are so incredibly well built it puts almost ANYTHING else human beings build to shame. Also - mad props to ATP Chesley B. Sullenberger. Way to grease that landing on the worst possible medium to land an aircraft on...water. Remember the crash off Africa? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZyDrpeWoBw&feature=PlayList&p=BDB117E66B575 C2E&playnext=1&index=29 Water is no place for a plane and Mr. Sullenberger made an extrordinary landing. How well trained are these pilots? The word "Miracle" is used often. Wow.
Johnnorth
After the financial geniuses have given us so some grief, it's great to celebrate - the pilot, the rescue crews, and now the plane. Congratulations to Mr. Irving for reminding us. Let us also remind us how important is innovation; America has led so much in that but has to regain momentum in technology, having spent so much treasure on financial innovation that led to the cliff.
dogindia
This was an extraordinary and heart lifting event. I was so moved by the pilot's courage and skill and the brilliant rescuers. Your wonderful comments about thanking the plane has been an idea on my mind since the accident. The plane looked like a strange sea creature like a whale or giant bird. Its qualities and character seemed visible to me in all the images. It seemed like a large waiting beast giving off patience and love. It should be carefully preserved made into a memorial. I watched as much video as I could find on the computer. CNN was gracious to run several local channels as well their programing.
leetz1
I read in a UK paper that this particular model of plane has a feature where a button can be pressed in the cockpit that seals off vents in the back of the plane, which slows down how fast the plane fills with water. It's all an amazing story; everything fell exactly into the right place for everyone to survive, from the plane to the pilot to the crew, to the calmness of the survivors during evac.
idiotking
One of my friends who is a flight attendant told me that the A320 series is usually picked because of the lower up-front cost (important to budget jet blue and constantly bankrupt US Airways), but tends towards more mechanical failures and repair needs than the B737s... it seems that this is backed up by data, looking at the hours between service... but its such a small percentage, one would think it barely makes a difference.
A320's seem especially prone to landing gear problems and smoke in cockpit incidents.
I'm being a bit too harsh though -- the truth is, almost EVERY aluminum tube we send hurtling up through the air at 500mph is a pretty d*mn amazing piece of engineering. And let's not forget the important role that our safety and maintainance regulations play in making our air fleet so safe (and imagine how much safer it would be if those rules were always followed!)
Kudos to the captain though. If he's brought it in less than level, that would have been a disaster!
HTuttle
It the engines didn't break off it likely would have sunk rapidly drowning many and leaving few 'heroes'.
Thank the crappy engine mounts.
Jacquejet
No HTuttle, thank the digital fly by wire flight controls. Under most conditions, the fly by wire (fbw) won't allow the aircraft to be stalled. Even if the fbw's were degraded by loss of both generators (and the APU wasn't running) the flight control laws have built in protections to aid the pilot in avoiding stalls.
Without the stall, you don't get wing drop and the resulting cartwheeling that tears the plane apart.
The A320/330/340 series of jets are probably the safest airliners flying. 15 years and 14000 hours experience in the A320 has convinced me of its safety.
dwp-in-STR
OK, we just returned to Germany on a flight from Houston. Along with us were our two English Setters. My question is would I have been able to get them out. (I did not sleep last night pondering THAT thought)....
unicron
"It the engines didn't break off it likely would have sunk rapidly drowning many and leaving few 'heroes'. Thank the crappy engine mounts."
Actually those engine mounts are designed to sheer off the plane in these types of accidents, so thank the aerospace engineers that built-in that feature to save lives. In the past when engines were locked to the wings, it'd lead to horrific and fatal accidents.
I'm glad to see it worked as intended...so many things when right in this crash-it could've easily been a tragedy with many deaths-I largely credit the pilot's skills. I wasn't aware that the A320 could float for so long-another wonderful life-saving feature all planes should have. As the saying goes, any landing you can walk away from, is a good one.
aperturemad
All well and good. Happy no one was killed and everyone who is PAID to do so did their jobs, terrific. Now explain why birds can down a jet. That should not happen. Ever.
sophia5
"The pilot deserves every kudo he's getting but don't forget to thank the plane."
Maybe the writer's giving the plane too much credit.
Had the Airbus landed any harder is there any guarantee that the plane's fuselage would not break open? Does anyone have proof a Boeing would have sunk any sooner given the same type of landing?
Is this article more about Euro pride (Airbus) and the rivalry with America (Boeing)? A subtle way that seems to temper the heroics of a Pilot? Who happens to be American.
Amazing that even a near tragedy brings out the Airbus versus Boeing. The pilot deserves all the credit for landing the plane evenly and apparently delicately. Had the landing clipped a wing chances are it would have been a catastrophe whether the plane was built by Airbus or Boeing.
JillBrenneman
As a 9 year flight attendant from 1999 to 2008, I often wondered if I would have the skill, if the training we spent so much time in, would work in an event like US1549 on the Hudson. I was fortunate and never was in a situation that involved an incident anywhere close to US 1549. But it does give me pause to consider some things. First since the airline I worked for went chaper 7, my post FA career has involved a couple of trips via aircraft. Now I get to watch people from a non F/A point of view. People can get caught up in the frustration that often comes with air travel and blame the flight attendants for all that has gone wrong in their trip. Or for all the amenities that were one time part of flying that no longer are.
Please, let's remember when we fly. The actual primary responsibility of flight attendants is for the safety of the passengers. And to be skilled, able and ready to do what must be done as in the case of US1549. The pilots are heroes for bringing the aircraft down in such a smooth way that the fuselage didn't crack, no fuel leaked. But forgotten sometimes in the salutations and expressions of gratitude are for the flight attendants who were the people that got the large pax load out of that aircraft in less than 90 seconds, all of which walked out. All safe. There are many heroes! Let's not forget the flight attendants!
And please remember them on future flights as they are doing the pre flight safety demo and asking you to follow along. There are reasons for that. Reasons that in the case of US1549 become life or death.
Everyone in this scenario is a hero! Hopefully lessons learned in this successful water ditching can be transferred and save many more lives in the future.
Solidarity and respect
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