On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:55:30 -0800, Smitty Two
wrote:

In article ,
mm wrote:

On Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:27:22 -0800, Smitty Two
wrote:

In article ,
mm wrote:

On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 06:21:53 -0800, Smitty Two
wrote:



As far as the pilot being a hero, sure, he did a nice job. Any pilot
could have easily done the same thing.

So how come other pilots said he was the only one to ever successfully
ditch [in the water]. (Maybe they are only counting airliners and not
military or private planes?)

I believe it was said that few ditchings end with no loss of life. Few
ditchings occur in a river in the middle of a huge city, with fifty
boats within spitting distance.

That's no coincidence. He aimed to land near the boats.

Gosh, all those pilots that ditch in the middle of the ocean, what were
they thinking? If only they'd aimed for some boats...


If he'd have put that thing down in the
middle of the ocean, every bit as gently, the lot of 'em would have
drowned, or been eaten by sharks as they floated on their seat cushions.

I'm not surprised he could find the Hudson River. It's landing
without breaking up that is the achievement.

Nuts. The pilot himself, at the award ceremony, said "we just did what
we were trained to do."

He's being modest for gosh sakes. Don't use his modesty against him.

I'm using his statement to substantiate my own: this was no goddamn
miracle. Every pilot is trained in emergencies, one of the most common
being engine failure. You want to worship him, go ahead.


And sure every pilot is trained about difficult landings but not every
pilot succeeds.

Landing an airplane is duck soup, for a pilot.
All he did, as far as the landing, was land on the water instead of on a
runway. I don't see any particular "achievement" in not breaking up.

Clearly you don't.

OK, s'pose you explain the achievement to me, as you see it. He landed
the plane within 3 knots of the landing speed called out in the POH.
(pilot's operating handbook.) Every pilot does that, every day. He did
*nothing* to "achieve" the intactness of the plane, other than landing
at the correct speed, in the correct attitude. No magic. No miracle. No
exceptional skill. Just an ordinary, every day landing, in the river
instead of on the runway. That's *all* there is to it, and the pilot
isn't being "modest" when he says that, he's telling you the damn truth.

Obviouly spoken by a non-pilot.

That plane is designed to land on WHEELS. LOTS of BIG wheels - and on
HARD surfaces - SOLID hard surfaces, like 2 feet of re-enforced
concrete. The underbelly , made of something like .035" aluminum
sheet, and the protruding engine pods, are NOT designed to land on
water at ANY speed.
The design of a flying boat or float plane is MUCH different than an
A320. And landing without power is NOT standard "short field" or "soft
field" practice.
Nor is a power out 180 degree turn at 3000 feet AGL.

The FACT that only ONE other airliner in history has landed intact on
water with no loss of life says something - and a whole lot more than
what you are spouting.

Sully is a VERY modest pilot.
I know numerous airline pilots who fly A320 planes - and without
exception, they ALL say they are sure glad it wasn't them. They are
all high time pilots - very skilled, and in one case a long-time
INSTRUCTOR on Airbus planes. NONE of them would expect to be able to
pull off that kind of a landing under those conditions.