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

| | | |

Cessna Lands on Model Runway


What: single-engine Cessna en route from North Carolina to Long Island NY
Where: Heckscher State Park in East Islip, Long Island NY
When: April 15, 2012, 4 pm
Who: pilot and student
Why: Pilot David J. Jensen and a student were in the single-engine Cessna when it developed engine problems. The pilots made a safe landing on a Heckscher State Park runway normally dedicated to model planes.

The plane was not allowed to take off from that runway, and was dismantled for removal.

The incident is under investigation.

Plane makes emergency landing on L.I.: MyFoxNY.com

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.
| |

A Small Point about the NTSB and Investigations

We’d like to remind people that NTSB investigations take a year or more.

We post news as it comes. The media being what it is, we hope everyone that reads our posts realizes that tertiary sources gleaned through the media are speculative at best. This speculation, published or not, does not compare in merit to NTSB investigations that take a year or more, and are examined with a fine-toothed comb in order to determine causes and consequences.

While the inexperience of the Asiana Crash on this particular plane at this particular airport may be a contributory cause, there may also be underlying causes that were behind autopilot being switched off, or the speed decreasing enough to cause a stick-shaker alert.

See a Boeing 777 stick shaker test below:

The NTSB has an extensive description of the investigative processes here:

http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/process.html

Obviously, the brief summation of news teams and even witnesses can not compare to the depth and breadth of the official investigation.

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

Delta MD-88 Lands in Show of Sparks

What: Delta Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-88en route from Atlanta,GA to Little Rock, AR
Where: Little Rock
When: Jan 19, 2011
Who: 78 people on board,
Why: On approach to Little Rock, the plane suffered an unsafe gear indication due to a hydraulics problem, and performed a go round for visual confirmation.

The approach was aborted until the gear could be manually extended. Then the plane landed safely with emergency services on standby. No injuries were reported and passengers left the plane singing the captain’s praises.

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

Airport Dog Bite

Susan Dubitsky was at the Hartsville-Jackson Atlanta airport near the south terminal baggage claim carousel waiting for her sister when a bomb-sniffing dog that was patrolling bit her. A police officer handling the dog when it bit her, and the dog lunged at her a second time.

TSA’s National Canine Program (NCP) provides the dogs, training, and a yearly stipend.

The incident is under investigation.

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