US Airways Flight 1549 Lands Safely in Hudson River; Bird Strike Likely

US Airways Flight 1549 was scheduled to cover a route from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina, but it logged only a few minutes in the air. It was a flight that might have ended in disaster. Excellent decision-making by the pilots, an efficient evacuation of passengers by the crew, and prompt action by nearby boat captains, however, gave this story a remarkable ending. All 150 passengers and the five crew members survived.¹

Flight 1549 departed LaGuardia Airport Runway 4 at 3:03 p.m., Eastern Time, on January 15, 2009.² Early reports indicate that the aircraft encountered a flock of geese and at least two of the birds may have entered and shut down one or both of the aircraft engines in dramatic fashion.

Experienced, Well-Trained Captain Made a Difference

Chesley B. Sullenberger III was the skillful and level-headed captain who glided the Airbus A-320 to a safe landing in water that was barely above freezing.³ A fully intact fuselage permitted the aircraft to remain afloat as ferries and other nearby boats sped to the rescue.

Captain Sullenberger's background as a Local Air Safety Chairman and Accident Investigator for the Air Line Pilots Association, as well as his many years of flying experience including as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force, obviously served him well in this emergency.⁴ The result was far different than one in March of 1960, when starlings flew into all four engines of a Lockheed Electra turbo-prop during takeoff from Boston Logan Airport and the airplane crashed into Boston Harbor. There were 62 fatalities.⁵ Pilot training, as well as engine design, has improved since 1960. Flight 1549 may be optimistic proof of the good that has come out of careful accident analysis and its application to professional pilot training over the past few decades.

Bird Strikes are Common Events

Bird strikes became more frequent with the advent of "jet" aircraft. One theory for why birds do not seem to avoid flight into jet engines is that jet aircraft fly faster than any of the natural predators of birds, so birds do not instinctively recognize the aircraft as a threat.

According to Bird Strike Committee USA⁶, a volunteer organization including members from the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Dept. of Defense, and the aviation industry:
• Bird and other wildlife strikes cost U.S. civil aviation over $620 million a year from 1990 through 2007.
• Over 5,000 bird strikes were reported by the U.S. Air Force in 2007.
• Over 7,600 bird and other wildlife strikes were reported for U.S. civil aircraft in 2007.
• Studies indicate only about 20% of bird strikes to civil aircraft at passenger service airports in the U.S. are reported.
• From 1990-2004, U.S. airlines reported 31 incidents in which pilots had to dump fuel to lighten load during a precautionary or emergency landing after striking birds on takeoff or climb.
• Waterfowl (31%), gulls (26%), and raptors (18%) represented 75% of the reported bird strikes causing damage to U.S. civil aircraft from 1990 through 2007.

Investigation Will Include Bird ID

When the Flight 1549 Airbus is examined in the Hudson River, or after it has been removed to dry land for inspection, it may be that the birds that caused the engine damage will have left remains in the engine(s) sufficient for identification of the kind of bird at fault. It won't take much. The Smithsonian Institution has a "Feather Identification Lab" which, in addition to other assignments, identifies the remains from bird strike events mailed to it by military and civilian aviators. Sometimes, the remains are nothing more than bits of bird tissue wiped off the edge of a wing. If necessary, the lab can extract DNA from the remains and compare it to the DNA code for various species of birds recorded in files maintained by the Smithsonian.⁷

And Experienced Pilots May Continue to Work Due to Change in Law

Captain Sullenberger will soon be in demand as a motivational/educational speaker for pilots as well as general audiences, no doubt. He is 57. Not long ago, that age would have meant he would be required to retire from the cockpit in three more years. Because of the "Fair Treatment of Experienced Pilots Act" that became law on December 13, 2007⁸, however, Captain Sullenberger has the option of continuing to fly professionally until age 65 as long as he keeps his flying skills sharp and continues to pass a medical exam every six months.

Continued good health for Captain Sullenberger may well assure the continued good health of many passengers on future U.S Airways flights. His future lectures and classes for pilots may help assure the continued good health of many more.

SOURCES:

¹CNN.com, "Airplane Crash-Lands into Hudson River; All Aboard Reported Safe" http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/01/15/new.york.plane.crash/index.html

²US Airways Flight 1549 Update #3, January 15, 2009 www.usairways.com/awa/news/pressRelease.aspx?Id=15

³MSNBC, "N.Y. Jet Crash Called 'Miracle on the Hudson'" http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28678669/

⁴C.B. "Sully" Sullenberger,

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/5/209/118

⁵Bird Strike Committee USA, "Significant Bird and Other Wildlife Strikes" http://www.birdstrike.org/commlink/signif.htm

⁶Bird Strike Committee USA http://www.birdstrike.org/http://www.birdstrike.org/

⁷Michael M. Phillips, "In Battle on Birds, Air force Deploys a Secret Weapon" Wall Street Journal, 1/4/2008

⁸49 U.S.C. § 44729