‘Got any ideas?’ : Captain to co-pilot
June 10, 2009
The captain of the US Airways Flight 1549 jet that landed in the Hudson River in January asked his co-pilot less than 20 seconds before splashing into the river,
“Got any ideas?”
The first officer, Jeffrey Skiles, replied to the captain, Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger:
“Actually not,”
The exchange, disclosed on a cockpit voice recorder transcript released in Washington, came after the crew unsuccessfully tried to restart engines and ruled out being able to bring the plane to a nearby airport.
The National Transportation Safety Board opened three days of hearings on the water landing, with Captain Sullenberger as the first witness. All 155 people on board made it out alive, scrambling onto the decks of ferries that came to the rescue as the jet drifted downstream.
Evidence in the January 15 incident indicates that a bird strike by migrating Canada geese robbed the Airbus SAS A320 engines of thrust after take-off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport en route to Charlotte, North Carolina.
According to the transcript, Captain Sullenberger said:
“Birds,”
The first officer said:
“Whoa,”
“Oh f****”
The comments began a 3½-minute period during which the plane’s engines lost almost all thrust.
The transcript records the captain addressing the passengers.
“This is the captain,”
“Brace for impact.”
Just before the plane hit the water, he said:
“We’re gonna brace.”
Captain Sullenberger, who grabbed the controls from his younger co-pilot after the power loss, told the board that “big, dark brown birds” filled his windshield just before he heard “booms”. At least three Canada geese hit the engines – the remains of two were found in one engine and one in the other, the Smithsonian Institution said.
The safety board is examining issues such as crew training, bird detection and engine safety standards at the hearings. It is months away from determining a cause of the accident.
The pilots have drawn praise for their professional demeanour in the cockpit. The Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, who awarded the crew the keys to his city, called Captain Sullenberger “Captain Cool.”
When a controller asked the captain if he wanted to land at LaGuardia, he replied: “We’re unable,” according to a transcript released in February. When asked about a different LaGuardia runway, he responded with one word: “Unable.” Finally he informed the controller:
“We’re gonna be in the Hudson.”
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Stopping bird strikes should be very simple. PUT MESH SCREENS OVER THE JET INTAKES. When a bird hits the mesh it gets mashed but the plane can continue flying. Why can't anyone else see this simple solution?
Are you serious?