Sully on Airbus: Too complicated

On CBS, Sully Sullenberger said that we may be making air planes “too complicated” for pilots to react quickly when “things go awry.”

Sully admitted that in his famous landing on the hudson, all his speed sensors still worked. The pilots of the Air France flight were operating under massive disadvantages, flying at night, at the top of a storm,very turbulent, losing all speed reference (one of the most critical parameters of flying an airplane), leaving the pilots only the pitch and thrust settings to maintain flight.

To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.

Similar Posts

  • For the Businessman Who Has Everything

    Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap small buildings at a single hop…Gulfstreams new oh-so-green jet…

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • | | | |

    Ecuador Crash Kills 7, Maybe More


    What: twin-engine Beechcraft 200 propeller plane en route from Manta to Quito’s airport
    Where: 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) from the airport near Hotel Quito
    When: 5:20 pm (2220 GMT)
    Who: seven people were killed: 5 aboard; 2 on the ground
    Why: small military plane on a training flight clipped some tree tops and crashed into an apartment building. The reports list two buildings.
    Initial reports said the deaths included the wife and son of the pilot, Major Julio Zaldumbide but we have not verified that information.

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • | | |

    Eurocopter Medevac Crew Perishes in AZ Neighborhood


    Pictured: A LifeNet Eurocopter AS-350B-3 Ecureuil. The one in the crash is
    registration # N509AM
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer David J Transier

    What: AirMethods American Eurocopter AS 350B3 Ecureuil en route from Marana to Southeast Arizona Medical Center
    Where: Near Park and 1st Avenue, Tucson, Arizona
    When: July 28, 2010, 2 pm
    Who: pilot, flight nurse and paramedic
    Why: On a medical helicopter service LifeNet Arizona flight, the crew had recently spoken to ATC when the helicopter crashed in a residential neighborhood behind a house. A witness said the pilot directed the helicopter away from the house; and that the engine made “popping noises” before it went silent. It’s rotors stopped, and it fell from the sky. No patients were aboard, but the crew died on the scene.

    Video

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • | | |

    Discovery Channel Helicopter Crash lawsuit

    Three people killed during a Discovery Channel Reality Show filming probably died due to cost cutting measures by the Discovery Channel.

    The “Crossbow Helicopters” Bell 206B Jet Ranger helicopter #N59518 was being used to shoot a reality show on the Polsa Rosa Ranch near Acton, California when it crashed at about 3:40 am. It broke into three pieces on impact in a rugged canyon area near Soledad Canyon Road.

    Cast member Michael Donatelli, cameraman Darren Rydstrom and pilot David Gibbs died when the helicopter they were in crashed at the Polsa Rosa Ranch. The case alleges “conscious disregard of additional, unacceptable safety risk” and claims that the pilot and the various chopper companies were unfit to operate the Helicopter.

    Grisel Donatelli, Amanda Donatelli and Dominic Donatelli named Discovery Communications, producers Eyeworks USA, Bongo Inc, Van Nuys Copters, Crossbow Helicopters and Orbic Air and others were named in the 23-page three count complaint.

    Pilot Gibbs had a spotty safety record. His license had been suspended by the FAA several times.

    Document

    Video

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • | |

    Blame Samuel Jackson for Two More ATC Suspensions

    The Ohio, controller who watched a DVD while monitoring three planes sent audio of Samuel Jackson in the movie The Cleaner to those three planes over his mike, and sticking his mike in the ON position so he couldn’t receive calls. The FAA announcement of that controller’s suspension said that a military pilot on an alternative frequency heard the movie broadcast over airspace. That controller has been suspended along with his manager.

    Is this Oberlin Ohio controller the only one doing this or was he just the only one unlucky enough to get caught? What other distracting solutions have air traffic controllers found to keep them from falling asleep during long dull lapses during the night? FAA policy prohibits the use of portable DVD players.

    We haven’t heard from Samuel Jackson.

     

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.