us airways flight 1549

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US Airways Flight 1549From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation , searchUS Airways Flight 1549

The downed US Airways Flight 1549 floating on

the Hudson River

Occurrence summary

Date January 15, 2009

TypeMultiple bird strikes , controlledditching

Site

In the Hudson River between New York City (near 48thStreet) and Weehawken, NewJersey (near Port Imperial ),United States

Passengers 150 [1]

Crew 5

Injuries 78 [2] (mostly minor)

Fatalities 0

Survivors 155 (all)

Aircraft type Airbus A320 -214

Operator US Airways

Tail number N106US

Flight originLaGuardia Airport , New York

City

StopoverCharlotte/Douglas InternationalAirport

DestinationSeattle-Tacoma InternationalAirport
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US Airways Flight 1549 was a scheduled commercial passenger flight from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina , that, on January 15, 2009, ditched in the Hudson River adjacent to Manhattan six minutes after departing from LaGuardia Airport .[3][4][5]

While on its initial climb out , the Airbus A320 struck a flock of Canada Geese which

resulted in an immediate almost complete loss of thrust from both engines. When theaircrew determined that the plane would be unable to safely reach any airfield from itslocation just northeast of the George Washington Bridge , they turned it southbound andglided over the river into which they successfully ditched the airliner near the USS

Intrepid Museum in midtown Manhattan about three minutes later. All 155 occupantssafely evacuated the still virtually intact (although partially submerged and slowlysinking) airliner from which they were quickly rescued by nearby watercraft. [6][7][8][9][10][11]

The entire crew of Flight 1549 was later awarded the Master's Medal of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators . The award citation read, "This emergency ditching andevacuation, with the loss of no lives, is a heroic and unique aviation achievement." [12]

Contents

[hide]

1 Flight designations, route, and crew 2 Airbus A320-214 and its safety systems 3 Ditching 4 Evacuation 5 Rescue 6 Injuries 7 Aftermath 8 Accident investigation 9 Awards 10 Video and first person accounts 11 See also 12 References

13 External links

[edit ] Flight designations, route, and crew
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LaGuardia Runway 4 Departure

US Airways Flight 1549 (also designated under a Star Alliance codeshare agreement asUnited Airlines Flight 1919) was a domestic route from New York City's LaGuardiaAirport (LGA) to Charlotte/Douglas , North Carolina , with direct onward service toSeattle-Tacoma in Washington .

On January 15, 2009, the flight was cleared for takeoff from Runway 4 at LaGuardia at3:24:56 p.m. EST (20:24:56 UTC). The crew made their first report after becomingairborne at 3:25:51 as being at 700 feet and climbing .[13] There were 150 passengers andfive crew members, including the captain , first officer , and three flight attendants , on

board. [1][14]

The captain was Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger , 57, a former fighter pilot who had been anairline pilot since leaving the Air Force in 1980. He is also a safety expert and a glider

pilot. [15][16][17][18][19] The first officer was Jeffrey B. Skiles, 49, [17][20][21] who was on his firstflight in the Airbus A320 since passing the training course to fly the type. [22] The flightattendants were Donna Dent, [23] Doreen Welsh, and Sheila Dail. [24]

As is often the case when a regularly scheduled commercial flight is involved in anaccident, use of the flight's number, 1549, was discontinued for subsequent operations of the carrier's afternoon LGA-CLT-SEA service. On January 16, 2009, the route wasredesignated US Airways Flight 1543, and on February 12, 2009, the LGA-CLT leg

became Flight 1867 when its equipment was changed to an Airbus A321 .[25]

[edit ] Airbus A320-214 and its safety systems

The aircraft was an Airbus A320-214 (Registration: N106US), powered by two GEAviation /Snecma -designed CFM56-5B4/P engines manufactured in France and the U.S.
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[26] One of 74 A320s then in service in the US Airways fleet, [27] it was built by AirbusIndustrie with final assembly at its facility at Aroport de Toulouse-Blagnac in France inJune, 1999. Delivered to the carrier on August 2, 1999, the airliner was registered toWells Fargo Bank Northwest, NA , as owner/lessor [28] with AIG listed as the lead insurer.[29]

The aircraft's FAA -required maintenance records, [30] released by US Airways the dayafter the accident, showed that when N106US was written off, its airframe had logged16,299 cycles (flights) totaling 25,241.08 flight hours. Total time on the engines was19,182 hours on the left (#1) and 26,466 hours on the right (#2). The last A Check , amaintenance check performed every 550 flight hours, was passed on December 6, 2008,and the last C Check (annual comprehensive inspection) on April 19, 2008. [26]

The Airbus A320 is a digital fly-by-wire aircraft: the flight control surfaces are moved byelectrical and hydraulic actuators controlled by a digital computer. The computer interprets pilot commands via input from a side-stick , making adjustments on its own to

keep the plane stable and on course.The mechanical energy of the two engines is the primary source of routine electrical

power and hydraulic pressure for the aircraft flight control systems .[31] The aircraft alsohas an auxiliary power unit (APU), which can provide backup electrical power for theaircraft, including its electrically powered hydraulic pumps; and a ram air turbine (RAT),a type of wind turbine that can be deployed into the airstream to provide backuphydraulic pressure and electrical power at certain speeds. [31] According to the NTSB , boththe APU and the RAT were operating as the plane descended into the Hudson, although itwas not clear whether the RAT had been deployed manually or automatically .[31]

The Airbus A320 also has a "ditching" button that closes valves and openings underneaththe aircraft, including the outflow valve, the air inlet for the emergency Ram Air Turbine,the avionics inlet, the extract valve, and the flow control valve. It is meant to slowflooding in a water landing. [32] The flight crew did not activate the "ditch switch" duringthe incident. [33]

[edit ] Ditching

New York TRACON audio

Air traffic control audio from about impact until ditching (3:10 long)

Problems listening to this file? See media help .
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5/12

Coast Guard video (8:07 long) of the crash and rescue; splashdown is at 3:31:02 pm

First Officer Skiles was at the controls of the flight when it took off to the northeast fromRunway 4 at 3:25 p.m., and was the first to notice a formation of birds approaching theaircraft about two minutes later, while passing through an altitude of about 3,200 feet(980 m) [3] on the initial climb out to 15,000 feet. [34] The aircraft collided with the birds at3:27:01. [35] The windscreen quickly turned dark brown and several loud thuds were heard.[36] Both engines ingested birds and immediately lost almost all thrust .[34] Capt.

Sullenberger took the controls, while Skiles began going through the three-pageemergency procedures checklist in an attempt to restart the engines. [34]

At 3:27:36, [35] using the call sign "Cactus 1539" [ sic ],[37][38] the flight radioed air trafficcontrollers at New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) [39] "Hit birds. Welost thrust in both engines. Returning back towards LaGuardia." Passengers and cabincrew later reported hearing "very loud bangs" in both engines and seeing flamingexhaust, then silence from the engines and smelling the odor of unburned fuel in thecabin. [8][40][41] Responding to the captain's report of a bird strike, controller Patrick Harten [42] gave the flight a heading to return to LaGuardia and told him that he could landto the southeast on Runway 13. [39] Sullenberger responded that he was unable. [39]

Flightpath

Sullenberger asked if they could attempt an emergency landing in New Jersey , mentioning Teterboro Airport in Bergen County as a possibility; [39][43][44] air trafficcontrollers quickly contacted Teterboro and gained permission for a landing on runway 1.[43] However, Sullenberger told controllers that "We can't do it", [34] and that "We're gonna

be in the Hudson," making clear his intention to bring the plane down on the HudsonRiver due to a lack of altitude .[45] Air traffic control at LaGuardia reported seeing the

aircraft pass less than 900 feet (270 m) above the George Washington Bridge .[46]

About90 seconds before touchdown, the captain announced, " Brace for impact ,"[46] and theflight attendants instructed the passengers how to do so. [47]

The plane ended its six-minute flight at 3:31 pm with an unpowered ditching whileheading south at about 150 miles per hour (130 kn; 240 km/h) in the middle of the NorthRiver section of the Hudson River roughly abeam 50th Street (near the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum) in Manhattan and Port Imperial in Weehawken , New Jersey.
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6/12

Sullenberger said in an interview on CBS television that his training prompted him tochoose a ditching location near operating boats so as to maximize the chance of rescue.The location was near three boat terminals: two used by ferry operator NY Waterway oneither side of the Hudson River and a third used by tour boat operator Circle LineSightseeing Cruises .[13][48] The ditching location was approximately 40.769498N

74.004636W 40.769498; -74.004636 Coordinates : 40.769498N 74.004636W 40.769498;-74.004636 .[49] After coming to a stop in the river, the plane began drifting southward withthe current. [50]

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Board Member Kitty Higgins, the principal spokesperson for the on-scene investigation, said at a press conference the dayafter the accident that it "has to go down [as] the most successful ditching in aviationhistory." [51] "These people knew what they were supposed to do and they did it and as aresult, nobody lost their life." [52]

[edit ] Evacuation

Immediately after the A320 had been ditched in mid-river, the aircrew began evacuatingthe 150 passengers, both on to the wings through from the four mid-cabin emergencywindow exits and into inflated slides deployed from the two front passenger doors, whilethe partially submerged and slowly sinking airliner drifted down the river with thecurrent. Two flight attendants were in the front, one in the rear. Each flight attendant inthe front opened a door, which was also armed to activate a slide, although the port sideslide did not immediately deploy. One rear door was opened by a panicked passenger,causing the aircraft to fill more quickly with water. The flight attendant in the rear whoattempted to reseal the rear door was not successful in doing so, she told CBS News .[53] Itwas later revealed that the impact with the water had ripped open a hole in the undersideof the airplane and twisting of the fuselage, causing cargo doors to pop open and fillingthe plane with water from the rear. [54] The flight attendant urged passengers to moveforward by climbing over seats to escape the rising water within the cabin. One passenger was in a wheelchair. Having twice walked the length of the cabin to confirm that no oneremained inside after the plane had been evacuated, the captain was the last person toleave the aircraft .[48][55][56][57] Evacuees, some wearing life-vests, waited for rescue on the

partly submerged slides, knee-deep in icy river water. Others stood on the wings or,fearing an explosion, swam away from the plane. [53] Air temperature at the time wasabout 20 F (7 C), and the water was 36 F (2 C) [44].

[edit ] Rescue
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7/12

Video from 20 minutes after ditching, with numerous ferries and rescue boatssurrounding the plane

The plane in the Hudson River surrounded by Coast Guard , FDNY , NYPD , and

ferryboats

Local commercial vessels from the NY Waterway and Circle Line Sightseeing Cruisesfleets responded almost immediately to the emergency. NY Waterway ferry Thomas

Jefferson , commanded by Captain Vincent Lombardi, was first on the scene arriving atthe side of the plane just four minutes after the ditching. NY Waterway ferry Governor Thomas H. Kean , under the command of 20-year-old Captain Brittany Catanzaro ,[58] wasthe second rescue craft to arrive reaching the plane a few minutes later .[59] Catanzaroreported to radio station WNYC that she and her crew used a Jason's cradle to bring

people who were wet onto her boat. Aircraft captain Sullenberger stated in CBS Newsinterviews that he advised the ferry crew to rescue passengers on the wing before the

passengers in the inflatable slides, as the inflatable slides provided a higher level of safety. Time-stamped video from a United States Coast Guard (USCG) surveillancecamera shows that the first of these vessels, a ferry boat, reached the plane at 3:35 pm(four minutes after the ditching) and began rescuing the 155 occupants. By this timemany passengers were already standing on the wings or in the inflated slides. [56] Theslides eventually detached from the fuselage to form life rafts .[46] At one point, as the

plane moved in the strong ebb tide current, passengers on one of the slides, fearing thatthe stern of the ferry boat would crush them, had to shout to the ferry boat pilot to steer away. [60]

Within minutes, [61] vessels from the New York City Fire and Police Departments (FDNY

and NYPD), the USCG,[62]

and a privately owned former Coast Guard Buoy Tender wereon scene to help with the rescue and recovery effort. [63] All of the passengers and flightcrew were rescued safely. [46]

The FDNY sent four marine units and rescue divers .[64] On land, FDNY declared a levelIII (All Hands) emergency and mobilized their Major Emergency Response, LogisticalSupport Units and had 35 ambulances ready for patients coming off the flight. [65][66] About
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140 FDNY firefighters responded to docks near the crash. [64] The NYPD sent squad cars,helicopters, vessels, and rescue divers from the Aviation Unit and Harbor Unit.

In addition, about 30 other ambulances were made available by other organizations,including several hospital-based ambulances (St. Vincent, St. Barnabas). Various

agencies also provided medical help on the Weehawken side of the river. Two mutual aidhelicopters responded to the West 30th Street Heliport , one from the Nassau CountyPolice and another from the New Jersey State Police .[67] New York Water Taxi sent boatsto the scene but did not take part in the rescue. [68]

[edit ] Injuries

There were two serious injuries, [69] one of which was a deep laceration in flight attendant Doreen Welsh's leg .[70] [33] In total, 78 people were treated, mostly for minor injuries [71] andhypothermia .[72]

Hospitals that treated patients from the incident include Saint Vincent's Catholic MedicalCenter in Greenwich Village ; St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center , which admitted ten

people; New York Downtown Hospital , which treated three passengers; and PalisadesMedical Center in North Bergen, New Jersey , which treated five patients for hypothermia. [73] In all, 24 passengers and two rescue personnel were treated at hospitals,[74] while others were cared for in triage facilities. [46] According to the airline, no pets were

being transported in the cargo hold, with a spokesperson stating: "We don't carry pets inour cargo." [75]

Delayed psychological effects were experienced as a result of the accident and rescue.Symptoms of posttraumatic stress including sleeplessness, flashbacks , and panic attackswere reported by members of the aircrew, passengers, and others directly involved. Anumber of the survivors received professional counseling, and some began an email support group to help ease the aftereffects of the experience. [76] In addition to those on the

plane, FAA Air Traffic Control Specialist Patrick Harten, the New York TRACONcontroller who worked the flight during the emergency, later stated in testimony beforeCongress that for him "the hardest, most traumatic part of the entire event was when itwas over" during which he was continually "gripped by raw moments of shock andgrief." [77]

[edit ] Aftermath

Tied up alongside Battery Park City
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49#cite_note-CNN-45%23cite_note-CNN-45http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549#cite_note-odd_sight-74%23cite_note-odd_sight-74http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttraumatic_stresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashbackhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_attackshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emailhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Support_grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549#cite_note-People-75%23cite_note-People-75http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Traffic_Controllerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549#cite_note-76%23cite_note-76http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=US_Airways_Flight_1549&action=edit&section=7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_Park_City


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The downed plane being recovered from the Hudson River during the night of January 17.

At 4:55 p.m. fire crews began to stand down. At 5:07 p.m. Doug Parker , CEO of USAirways, issued an official statement during a press conference in Tempe , Arizona , inwhich he confirmed that the flight had been involved in an accident. [78]

The flight crew, particularly Captain Sullenberger, were widely praised for their actionsduring the incident, notably by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NewYork State Governor David Paterson , who opined, "We had a 'Miracle on 34th Street .' I

believe now we have had a 'Miracle on the Hudson'." [71][79][ 80][81] Outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush said he was "inspired by the skill and heroism of the flight crew," andhe also praised the emergency responders and volunteers. [82] Then President-elect Barack Obama said that everyone was proud of Sullenberger's "heroic and graceful job in landingthe damaged aircraft," and thanked the plane's crew, whom he invited to attend hisinauguration as President in Washington, D.C., five days later. He also invited those whohad helped ensure the safety of all 155 people aboard .[83][84]

Following the rescue, the plane remained afloat though partially submerged, and wasquickly moored to a pier near the World Financial Center in Lower Manhattan , roughly4 miles (6 km) downstream from where it had ditched. [47] The left engine had detachedfrom the plane during the ditching and was recovered several days later from the river

bottom, 65 feet (20 m) below the surface. [85] The water was so murky that the right enginewas initially thought also to have detached, but it was later found to be still in place onthe aircraft (with much of its nacelle missing). [86] On January 17, the aircraft was removedfrom the Hudson River and placed on a barge .[34][87][88] The aircraft was then moved to

New Jersey for examination. [89]

The method used to recover the submerged airframe from the water rendered it

uneconomical to repair and the airliner was written off ,[90]

. The rear pressure bulkheadwas also damaged in the accident, and the salvage contractor, Weeks Marine, cut off thewings and empennage . Another salvage contractor, Source One Airplane Repair,contends that if due care had been taken during the recovery, the aircraft could have beenrepaired for $20,000,000 (less than a third of the cost of a new aircraft). [91]

The passengers on the plane each received a letter of apology, $5000 in compensation for lost baggage and a refund of the ticket price .[92]
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35-year-old Patrick Harten, a ten-year veteran air traffic controller who was talking withthe aircrew during the incident, wore the number 1549 during the Boston Marathon,completing the race in a personal best time of 2:47:19. The Boston Marathon does notnormally allow runners to choose their numbers, but they made an exception. He wouldhave been in the 1000-2000 range bracket. [93]

[edit ] Accident investigation

The fuselage being towed to a salvage facility

Feather found in left (#1) engine

Shortly after the event, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokeswoman LauraBrown said that the plane may have been hit by birds .[94] A National TransportationSafety Board (NTSB) Go Team (typically comprising specialists in fields relating to theincident), led by Senior Air Safety Investigator Robert Benzon, was dispatched to NewYork. [95] The preliminary report of the incident, published on January 16, states that theaircraft went down following a bird strike .[96] This conclusion, and the simultaneous lossof thrust in both engines, was confirmed by preliminary analysis of the Cockpit VoiceRecorder and the Flight Data Recorder , both of which were recovered by the NTSB whenthe aircraft was lifted out of the river on January 18. [52]

The next day, reports surfaced that the same airplane and same flight had experienced asimilar but less severe compressor stall on January 13. During that flight, passengerswere told they might have to make an emergency landing .[97][98] However, the affectedengine was restarted and the flight continued to Charlotte. The NTSB later reported thatthis engine surge had been caused by a faulty temperature sensor, which was replaced,
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and that the engine was undamaged by the event, which allowed the plane to return toservice. [99]

On January 21, the NTSB noted that organic debris, including a single feather, as well asevidence of soft-body damage, was found in the right engine. [100][101] The left engine was

recovered from the river on January 23 and, like the right engine, was missing a large portion of its housing. [102] On initial examination the NTSB reported that while missingobvious organic matter, it too had evidence of soft body impact, and "had dents on boththe spinner and inlet lip of the engine cowling. Five booster inlet guide vanes arefractured and eight outlet guide vanes are missing." Both engines were to be sent to themanufacturer's Cincinnati, Ohio facility for teardown and examination. [103] On January31, the plane was moved to a secure storage facility in Kearny, New Jersey , for theremainder of the investigation. The NTSB confirmed that bird remains had been found in

both engines. [99][104] The bird debris was later identified as Canada Geese through DNAtesting. The typical weight of these birds is well above the limits the engines weredesigned to withstand on impact. [99]

On February 5, the FAA released audio tape recordings and transcripts of its internal and broadcast ATC communications relating to the accident. The entire exchange betweenFlight 1549 and air traffic control relating to the emergency lasted less than two minutes.

As the accident A320 was assembled by the Airbus Division of the European aerospaceconsortium EADS at the Airbus headquarters manufacturing facilities in Toulouse,France , under the provisions of ICAO Annex 13 both the European Aviation SafetyAgency (the European counterpart of the FAA) and the Bureau d'Enqutes et d'Analyses

pour la scurit de l'Aviation Civile (the French counterpart of the NTSB) became active participants in the accident investigation, with technical assistance provided by Airbus

Industrie and GE Aviation/Snecma as manufacturers of the airframe and enginesrespectively. [105][106]

Flight 1549 is the fifth take-off/departure phase accident at LaGuardia, resulting in thewrite off of an airframe for a commercial air carrier, since the field opened in 1939. [107] Of those, it is the third involving the hull loss of a US Airways/USAir plane. [108][109]

[edit ] Awards

The Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators awarded the entire flight crew of Flight 1549a Master's Medal on January 22, 2009. The medal is awarded only rarely, for outstandingaviation achievements at the discretion of the Master of the Guild .[12] The citation for theaward is:

The reactions of all members of the crew, the split second decision making andthe handling of this emergency and evacuation was 'text book' and an exampleto us all. To have safely executed this emergency ditching and evacuation,with the loss of no lives, is a heroic and unique aviation achievement. It
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deserves the immediate recognition that has today been given by the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators.

The Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg , presented the Keys to the City to the

crew of Flight 1549. He also gave the pilot a replacement copy of a library book lost onthe flight, Just Culture: Balancing Safety and Accountability , by Sidney Dekker. [110] Thecivilian and uniformed rescuers received Certificates of Honor. [111] In addition, the crewof Flight 1549 were given a standing ovation prior to the start of Super Bowl XLIII onFebruary 1 , 2009 .[112]

[edit ] Video and first person accounts
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