Posted on 01/15/2016 6:07:01 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
(CBS SF) -- The pilot who smoothly ditched a disabled passenger jet in the frigid Hudson River in New York, saving all passengers and crew and becoming a national hero today marked the seventh anniversary of the "Miracle on the Hudson."
Danville resident Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger took to his Twitter page Friday to remark: "7 yrs later, w/ pride + hope, I still see good coming from the remarkable events of #Flight1549"
(Excerpt) Read more at sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com ...
A true hero.
The real (unsung) hero was First Officer Jeff Skiles. I know both Jeff and Sullenberger. Jeff still flies. Sullenberger quit flying.
Trust me when I say this; all pilots, in a forced landing situation are only concerned for their butts. If they survive chances are super that all will survive.
Sully is one hell of a stick! GO SULLY!
You’re right,Tz...Skiles deserves kudos as well!
Roger that
>> The real (unsung) hero was First Officer Jeff Skiles.
In what way?
Stop spamming the keywords. Thanks.
The media later found out he was a Pubbie’ so they ignored him.
‘Helps to be a glider pilot—which Sully was...
Jeff got right back in the flight deck and continues to fly. He shunned the limelight.
Sullenberger’s glider experience had no correlation.
US 1549 was not deadstick, and even if it was, the only thing it shares with a glider is having wings.
1549 had 35% thrust on the left engine, and 10% on the right.
The following was written by a glider pilot trainer, who openly credited the (then unknown) pilot with landing safely:
"Unpowered landings are also a crucial part of glider training--after keeping the nose down for much of the approach, the pilot must pull off what amounts to a full-stall landing, reducing speed until the wings are no longer producing lift, and bringing the nose back up. The result is an extremely low-speed, low-impact landing. To Hustead, that matches descriptions of Sullenberger's Hudson River landing. "That's a glider's instinct. It's the most perfect landing on water I've ever heard of," Hustead says.
If Sullenberger's gliding experience turns out to have helped to save lives, it wouldn't be the first time. In 1983, Air Canada Flight 143 ran out of fuel 41,000 ft over Ontario with 61 passengers onboard (the culprit was an embarrassing mix of human error and faulty fuel gauges). Capt. Robert Pearson, a certified glider, was able to safely land the Boeing 767 at a small airport in Manitoba. "I always say that glider pilots are the safest pilots. When the engine goes out, you're ready for it," says Hustead. "I would also hazard a guess that it's a good reason for power pilots to get their certification. They can come down here--I'll take them up any time."
--Erik Sofge
My Dad flew PBYs during the war, and won many "best-landing" trophies after the war. The PBY was best landed with the power chopped, and allowed to drop-stall onto ocean swells.
My dad flew the Hump in the C-B-I Campaign.
Survived a “forced landing” in India.
Go see the movie when it comes out in September. The movie shows Sullenburger rightly to be a hero, but it is not as cut and dried as most might think. Tests show that a return to LGA was definitely good odds, and landing on a mile wide smooth “anything” is not a technical feat (being a one time glider pilot would give no experience to help). The challenge was making the decision, not the landing. Any airline pilot will attest to that.
Overall, Clint Eastwood handles the story well. I am listed in the credits as a technical pilot.
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