US Airways Flight 1549 landed on the Hudson river on January 15, 2009. The pilot was Captain Chesley Sullenberger. The primary cause of the crash landing was engine failure, brought about by birds getting stuck in both the plane’s engines.
The Hudson landing was a success and now Captain Sullenberger is an icon of the modern American hero. Listen to the Flight 1549 tapes below to experience, even partially, the harrowing ordeal faced by the calm but inwardly terrified captain and the confused air traffic controllers on land.
An excerpt of the conversation from the Flight 1549 tapes, as reported by FOXNews [link].
“We’ve got an emergency return,” a controller says. “He’s had a bird strike. He’s returning immediately. … He lost both engines, he said.”
Controllers tell him that Runway 4 at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, where the flight originated, is available.
A Fedex cargo plane (ATR-42 twin-turboprop aircraft) crashed upon landing at the Lubbock runway in Texas last Tuesday morning, resulting to a small fire. Two pilots with minor injuries were taken to the hospital.
The plane undershot the touchdown zone at 4:37 a.m. CT (5:47 ET), said James Loomis, director of Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport.
Yikes. Remind me never to take a Zest Air aircraft (formerly Asian Spirit) – ever.
Zest Air undershot the runway at Caticlan Airport this morning, then proceeded to crash against the airport wall. Two children and one crew member were hurt. There were 23 passengers onboard, mostly tourists to Boracay.
All other flights (Cebu Pacific, Air Philippines, SEAIR) have been rerouted to the nearby Kalibo airport.
This isn’t Zest Air’s first crash. (Asia’s most refreshing airline? I don’t think so.) The same thing happened last year, when then Asian Spirit overshot the Masbate airport. In 2005, it overran the runway at Catarman National Airport. And in 1999, it killed all 15 passengers and 2 crew members in a crash between Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino.
