Mayday Air Crash Investigations - S10 E05 - Hudson River Runway
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00:00after takeoff checklist complete US Airways flight 1549 has just left New York's LaGuardia
00:10airport and that fast we were just on top of them my aircraft both of the plane's engines have
00:25stopped working mayday mayday mayday this is cactus 1549 the plane is falling from the sky
00:33there are only a few seconds to decide what to do 155 lives depend on the pilots making the right
00:46call can't do it with a bad option on the right and a worse one on the left the crew decides to put
00:57their airbus on the runway that's dead ahead we're gonna be in the Hudson
01:16New York's LaGuardia Airport mid-afternoon please take a moment to listen to this important US
01:36Airways flight 1549 is a short hop from New York City to Charlotte North Carolina at least it will
01:43be a little warmer in Charlotte together in the cockpit today our captain Chesley Sullenberger 57
01:56clear to push and first officer Jeffrey Skiles 49 we were late because the weather was bad earlier but
02:07by this point the weather cleared off for our departure and it was just a puffy clouds 28 brakes
02:14released spot 28 for cactus 1549 150 passengers are on board the European made Airbus A320
02:25businessman Clay Presley is on his way home to Charlotte I arrived at the airport at
02:35Bordia it was very cold it had been snowing a little bit that day and we had a storm coming in so
02:40we wanted to make sure we made that flight and weren't hung up or delayed on some later flights the crew flew
02:49in an hour earlier from Charlotte with Sullenberger at the controls your brakes your aircraft first officer
02:55Skiles will be flying the plane back to Charlotte aircraft it's a common sharing of piloting duties
03:01this trip marks the final leg of a four-day sequence of flights for both men we made our standard call
03:15outs it was just a normal takeoff normal procedures on the climb out there was absolutely nothing at
03:22all to indicate that this would be any different than any other takeoff in my entire career but by the end
03:28of the day they'll be the most famous crew on the planet you're up please you're up Patrick Houghton
03:42is one of the controllers handling traffic out of LaGuardia today he has one of the most stressful jobs in
03:49the world when I sit down in front of a radar I am responsible for every person on every airplane
03:57under my control and I take that responsibility very seriously cactus 1549 New York departure radar
04:06contact climb and maintain one five thousand the flight will climb northeast out of LaGuardia and
04:12then begin a slow turn south towards Charlotte I think I had about three or four airplanes on my
04:18frequency at that time and it was just a normal departure you know it's just another flight that
04:22I've handled a million times riding the thrust of two general electric engines the aircraft powers into the sky
04:30cactus 1549 700 climbing 5,000
04:37what a view of the Hudson today
04:43yeah after takeoff checklist complete
04:49flight 1549 is traveling at almost 400 kilometers an hour it's been in the air for just a minute and a half
04:58I caught something out of the corner of my eye and slightly to our right but still ahead of us was a
05:03line of birds and they were very very close too close for us to maneuver around and that fast we
05:11were just on top of them you can just feel the the power of the plane going forward and then all of a
05:18sudden there was this gigantic boom it seemed like it stopped in midair like you hit a brick wall
05:23ending and then all of a sudden somebody said the left engine's on fire before we could even assess
05:31the situation we got one roll both of them rolling back both engines rolled back to idle ignition start
05:38just 13 seconds after their problems began Sullenberger takes control of the struggling plane
05:47the QRH or quick reference handbook is a step-by-step guide to dealing with emergencies
06:01mayday mayday mayday this is cactus 1549 hit birds we've lost thrust in both engines we're turning back
06:06towards LaGuardia when a pilot says mayday or declares an emergency now you go from a focus state to a
06:12hyper focus state you just focus in on the emergency itself and you know figure out the solution to
06:18the problem okay you need to return to LaGuardia turn left heading two two zero two two zero all of a
06:25sudden there was a smell that came through the cabinet something's burning if you're remaining engine mode
06:34selector ignition what I'm thinking though at this point is that you know we're just gonna have to
06:40restart an engine thrust levers confirm idle idle the procedure is to try to restart the engines and
06:48I I always had faith we could do that airspeed optimum relay 300 knots we don't have that we don't hey
06:58cactus 1549 if we can get it for you we'll try and land on runway 13 we're unable the conversations with
07:03Captain Sullenberger were very short and to the point which was very appropriate for the emergency there's a
07:09lot going on and wasn't much time to handle it when Captain Sullenberger simply said unable I it didn't
07:15bother me I mean he had his hands full flying the airplane and I understood that so my job is just to
07:21move on to the next option all right cactus 1549 it's gonna be traffic for runway 31 unable
07:27Harten still wants the jet to return to LaGuardia but flight 1549 is now just 1400 feet above the ground
07:34cactus 1549 runway four is available if you want to make left traffic runway I'm not sure we can make
07:41any runway what's to our right anything in New Jersey Teterboro okay yeah off to your right side is
07:47Teterboro Airport you want to try to go to Teterboro Teterboro is a small airport on the New Jersey side of
07:53the Hudson River but it's several kilometers away and without their engines flight 1549 is dropping fast
08:00you want to try to go to Teterboro yes when the air traffic controller pointed out Teterboro I looked at
08:07it and I stopped and I was kind of concerned that he was actually going to try for it I didn't think we
08:11could make it so you're sitting there very quietly people are anxiously waiting for information and they
08:21wanted reassurance that things were going to be okay you could hear that microphone come on this is
08:29the captain we're hoping he was going to say I've got this under control we're going to be okay we're
08:34going to make it we're going to turn around and go back and land that's what you were hoping to hear
08:39brace for impact what does he mean brace for impact and then all of a sudden it registered I think
08:47he's saying we're gonna crash I had no idea about how to brace for impact everybody's looking around
08:54brace for impact what do you mean brace for impact and how do you brace go ahead try number one I put
09:00it back on okay put it back on put it back on while the crew struggles to fly their stricken plane
09:06Patrick Harton is still trying to find them an airport I actually worked Teterboro Airport for
09:12about three years so I was very familiar with the airport hey cactus 1549 you can land one way one
09:17at Teterboro can't do it okay which one way would you like at Teterboro we're gonna be in the Hudson
09:26I'm sorry say again cactus I could hear him but my mind really didn't want to comprehend those words
09:31that was a death sentence for him and I didn't want to accept the fact that it was over and there
09:38were no more options left I don't think we're going back to guardia I just emailed my wife and just said I
09:45love you and I didn't say anything else because I really did not want her to worry okay let's go
09:53put the flaps out I thought to myself great the Hudson River was our best opportunity it was really
10:02the only thing in sight where we could land this airplane passengers throughout the plane watch the
10:07Hudson rise to meet them and begin making preparations of their own so I started thinking
10:12about if we're gonna crash I know I need to figure out where the exit rows are if the water comes in you
10:18need to be able to hold your breath long enough to get to those four or five rows and get the doors
10:23open if you can got flaps out 250 feet here we're not going to be able to get an engine started so I
10:33started calling out airspeeds and altitudes 170 knots to give him a situational awareness of what was
10:40going on got flaps too no let's stay at two got any ideas actually not they're so focused on what we
10:59were doing and I I always thought it would work out below 300 feet Patrick Horton's radar can't see the
11:08plane flight 1549 disappears when the aircraft disappeared off my radar I just assumed that there
11:18weren't going to be any survivors in the cabin the passengers prepare for the inevitable all the
11:25passengers really started kind of pulling together and somebody yelled out as we were going down the
11:34folks at the door says we're ready I was just scared to death look like the airplane was going right
11:54for the bottom of the Hudson River all we saw was water cascading over the windshield it was like a
12:02tornado pieces of the plane were being torn apart some people were thrown around pretty good then the
12:12airplane popped up and it was just sort of gently rocking in the waves
12:19we all just sat there we were all in shock and we were we were waiting for what's next
12:35US Airways flight 1549 was in the air for just five minutes and eight seconds having made a remarkable
12:46landing the passengers and crew now face a new danger the plane is leaking the ice-cold water of the Hudson is
12:55pouring into the cabin
12:56the crew of flight 1549 has just performed an extremely difficult aviation feat but they still have more work to do
13:12captain Sullenberger heads for the cabin while first officer Skiles shuts down the plane I stayed
13:21behind and did the evacuation checklist and so it was probably about 45 seconds before I actually went back
13:27myself in the cabin after we landed in an instant the 75 million dollar plane has become an unlikely boat floating
13:37down the Hudson River it's now filling with freezing water that water was cold it was very cold so your
13:48feet are freezing people came to their senses and they said get the doors open get the doors open at air
13:55traffic control Patrick Harten has no idea the plane even made it down safely I didn't think anyone could
14:00survive a water landing like that they got me off position I was obviously in no condition to work
14:06traffic anymore Harten is led to his Union office despite his ordeal protocol demands he recount his
14:13version of events I really didn't want to speak to anyone I just wanted to kind of hide under a rock I
14:19needed my wife to know what had happened but I knew I couldn't talk to her because it's pretty much in a
14:25fragile state and I didn't want to break down so I sent her a simple text message I said had a crash I'm
14:32not okay can't talk now passengers nearest the exits open the doors quickly while Sullenberger and the
14:43cabin crew begin managing the evacuation I just jumped up very quickly and started making my way to the
14:48emergency door and so I worked my way out onto the wing just a few steps to start with I started
14:55noticing that people around me had their flotation devices they pulled up their seat bottoms or they
15:00had a life jacket that they've taken I had nothing with me Skiles heads back to help the crew in the
15:08cabin get passengers out of the sinking plane he knows there's not much time and one of the flight
15:14attendants has been injured I went back to about mid cabin and Sully and I and two young men were getting
15:20seat cushions and life vests which are underneath the seats and we're passing them out I'm looking
15:26around trying to assess the situation is the plane gonna blow up what's the next step yeah there were
15:31actually probably six or eight people that that went into the water and they were shivering and they
15:37were cold we started pulling them back up onto the wing at the back of the plane water continues pouring in
15:44passengers are directed to move forward to escape this unwieldy boat won't be floating much longer
15:53we were actually in the water you know up to our knees and it was just absolutely freezing cold you
15:59know every part of your body that was in that water just ached to the bone we were very confident there
16:08was nobody left on the airplane but what was going on on the wings you know we just had no idea Skiles and
16:16Sullenberger are the last ones off the plane I just saw the big splash when the plane just bounced over
16:26the water small commercial airline crash into the water they've been in the water more than 10 minutes
16:30already LaGuardia Airport has sent out an alert to New York's emergency services in the middle of the
16:39Hudson 155 frozen people hope that help will arrive in time I saw the first ferry and I could see the
16:50wheelhouse I felt like okay we're really gonna be okay there was a sigh of relief first on the scene
16:56are passenger ferries that have been shuttling people across the Hudson they are eventually joined
17:01by the Coast Guard and Fire Department the atmosphere on the ferry was still one of concern because we
17:09didn't know whether all the passengers got off the plane at that point in time I was sitting in the
17:15Union office preparing to make my statement and that's when one of my friends popped their head into
17:21the office said hey patty it looks like everyone made it and I was like really that was incredible
17:31news I mean I was still traumatized by the event itself but the fact that everyone made it was
17:36just is like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders the entire nation looks on as every
17:46single passenger and the entire crew of flight 1549 is brought to safety like so many others around
18:03the world investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are riveted to the pictures hey you got
18:12to see this we learned a little bit about the accident of course before we launched the TV channels were
18:18showing the aircraft in the river and everything all agree that the landing is extraordinary I think
18:30it's a miracle very blessed to walk away I reached over to Captain Sully and just said I just want you
18:36know you saved my life and everyone's lives here in my mind we were dead and everyone of us came out of
18:43that alive it's mere by evening the plane is almost completely underwater the current is pushing it
18:54towards the edge of the river the aircraft was tied up against the pier and we we went down to look at
19:00it to see what we're up against of course but we can't do much at night NTSB investigator Harold
19:06Reichel arrives on the scene water was dark of course we just saw the tail and most of the fuselage
19:12and one of the wings was underneath the water we knew it was going to be quite difficult to get it a
19:19out of the water and then be to a place where we could examine the components of the airplane in a more
19:25controlled manner for investigators it's an unusual situation normally their main task is to uncover
19:33the cause of a crash with flight 1549 the cause seems obvious the original mayday call was clear
19:44mayday mayday mayday this is cactus 1549 hit birds we've lost thrusting both engines we're turning
19:49back towards the guardian the crew reported that they hit several birds shortly after takeoff
19:55I think everybody realized that a bird strike had occurred what people didn't know was what kind of
20:04birds brought the aircraft down whether it might have been a combination of a bird strike plus something
20:10else whether the crew acted and flew the aircraft as they should have my aircraft get the QRH
20:20US Airways pilot made an incredibly skillful emergency landing in the Hudson River investigators want
20:28to interview both pilots but their sudden fame makes them hard to get to it became a little bit
20:34more difficult than usual to a locate the the flight crew and then be to talk to them they were instant heroes
20:41nothing in a life can prepare one for the media frenzy of a situation you know like this and it's not
20:54just the pilots newfound celebrity that's an obstacle for investigators like Katherine Wilson one of the most
21:00challenging things in this case was nobody wanted to sully sully you know he was a hero in this case
21:05and we were the ones who was potentially going to pick apart what he did and try to find out what he
21:11did and whether it was right or not to prove that birds caused the crash authorities need to get the
21:20plane out of the water but a vital piece is missing we've been told earlier that both engines were still
21:28attached to the aircraft that turned out not to be true so that became a major goal right off the
21:33bat was to figure out where that second engine was we didn't know exactly where it was focus on this
21:44but we we had films of the aircraft actually touching down and we could cross-reference different
21:51things we use some side scanning sonar that gave us a very clear picture of the bottom it wasn't that
22:04easy to do because the Hudson River has a current and the current changes throughout the day so it took
22:11three days ultimately to find the engine within days the recovered engine and the rest of the aircraft
22:21are moved to a warehouse in New Jersey so investigators can study the wreckage more carefully we certainly
22:30couldn't do it out there at the edge of the Hudson River and you can imagine how interesting it was to
22:36take an airplane 150 or 200 feet long through a very very populated area in New Jersey as the plane is being moved
22:45investigators work with the voice and data recorders okay let's hear it which were in the most damaged part of the
22:54plane the tail the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder were in virtually pristine shape the aircraft had sustained quite a bit of damage in the rear end but the recorders themselves
23:06survived very well we were really lucky all of the data was able to be downloaded normally
23:13listening to the CVR provides vital insight into how the crew responded to the emergency
23:23in this case both Captain Sullenberger and First Officer Skiles acted extremely professionally
23:29ignition start each member had their own roles and responsibilities they stayed with those roles and
23:36responsibilities throughout the the accident flight and communicated only when necessary
23:40put the flaps up on flight 1549 my aircraft it took just seconds for the crew to each assume their individual
23:50responsibilities part of the reason they handled the emergency so well was the Jeffrey Skiles had only just
23:56finished his Airbus training this was my first trip out as a regular line pilot in the Airbus A320 it literally was right out of training
24:07and the benefit of that was that he knew exactly the checklist to turn to and that's exactly what he did
24:14fuel remaining engine mode selector ignition crews are highly trained in emergency procedures and the main things to follow procedures in this instance and that's exactly what
24:23first officer Skiles did by grabbing the quick reference handbook and turning to the appropriate checklist
24:28but as investigators examine the checklist for restarting this plane's engines they make a troubling discovery
24:34it was assembled for an event that occurred 20,000 feet in the air where a crew would have plenty of time to
24:40to slowly and carefully go through a three-page checklist the end of which was how do we ditch the airplane
24:48so it was a three-page checklist and really I only got to about the page and a half through this checklist in the time that we had
24:56airspeed optimum relay
24:58the crew spent a lot of time trying to restart the engines when they could have been focusing on preparing the airplane for the ditching
25:05300 knots
25:07we don't have that
25:09we don't
25:11overly complicated checklists have played a role in deadly plane crashes in the past
25:18in 1998 a fire broke out on board a Swiss air passenger jet
25:23the checklist the crew used for that situation would have taken them up to half an hour to complete
25:30it's a half hour they didn't have
25:34but on flight 1549 the checklist was far from the greatest challenge facing Sullenberger and Skiles
25:46I'm not sure we can make any runway
25:49water landings are notoriously difficult because unless they're perfect they can be catastrophic
25:55in 1996 after a hijacking an Ethiopian Airlines captain tried to land off the Comoros Islands when his plane ran out of fuel
26:05his left wing hit the water first causing the plane to cartwheel
26:09it was ripped to pieces
26:11of the 175 people on board only 50 survived
26:16investigators soon learn that none of the major airlines use simulators to teach pilots how to land on water
26:29training for ditching in a simulator is very difficult we don't have the models to accurately simulate what an airplane would do when it touches down on water given the rarity of this type of event it would be very difficult to just
26:45it would be very difficult to justify training pilots for this type of event
26:52but even without ever going through a simulation
26:54captain Sullenberger got almost everything right
26:57he kept the nose up and wings level
27:00he let the tail hit the water first
27:02slowing the jet down enough so that it survived the impact
27:06nice flying
27:10NTSB investigators turn to their own simulation to answer a vital question
27:19this is the cap did Sullenberger have to land in the Hudson
27:22brace for impact
27:23or could he have made it to a runway
27:25mayday mayday mayday mayday this is cactus 1549
27:32investigators study Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles actions in the moments after their plane collided with birds
27:40ignition
27:41we wanted to know did the pilots do the right thing
27:44so what we did in the simulator was we tested exactly that was there enough energy to make it back to LaGuardia
27:50and what we found was that about 50% of the time we were able to make it back to the airport
27:55but when a 35 second delay is imposed after the bird strike to account for the crew's attempt to restart the engines
28:02all of the simulator pilots crash before reaching the runway
28:06when we took into consideration the decision-making process that Captain Sullenberger went through
28:11we realized that it was not possible to make it back to the airport
28:15cactus 1549 runway 4 is available
28:17there's no doubt
28:18we're gonna be in the Hudson
28:20putting the plane in the Hudson was the right call
28:23Sullenberger didn't have enough altitude to glide to either LaGuardia or Teterborough airports
28:29the investigators also discover that Sullenberger made a decision that wasn't at the top of the checklist
28:41one that was critical to the survival of everyone on board
28:44I'm starting the APU
28:46on commercial jetliners the engines provide power to electrical systems
28:52if the engines stop working the crew eventually loses those systems
28:56the APU is an emergency generator that keeps some things running
29:01the APU allowed him to still see his screens the instruments still worked
29:09it also allowed the A320 itself to assist with the heroic landing
29:14the APU provided power to the plane's electronic brain
29:17stopping the pilots from making any potentially dangerous moves
29:21it kept them inside a so-called flight envelope
29:26by starting the APU early in the sequence
29:29the flight crew was able to maintain the flight envelope protections
29:32which prevented the airplane from stalling when the airspeed got too slow
29:35it's right on the edge of stall speed
29:38the flight data shows that Sullenberger was going slower than the ideal speed
29:43the airspeed during the accident sequence got about 20 knots slower than it should have been for this flight
29:49but the A320's flight computer is designed to constantly adjust the plane's pitch and keep it from stalling
29:56we definitely could have had a much more catastrophic outcome had the airplane actually stalled
30:03starting the APU
30:05Sullenberger's quick thinking made sure the plane's complex computer system kept working
30:10it gave him an automated safety net so he'd have the best chance to do the nearly impossible
30:17we're gonna be in the Hudson
30:19it was a combination of a good crew and a good airplane
30:22let's go
30:25put the flaps out
30:27the captain had the presence of mind for instance just before they were about to land a couple of hundred feet in the air
30:33to turn to the first officer and ask
30:36got any ideas?
30:38actually if not
30:40they were both coordinating right up to the end and that's what we like to see
30:44skill, training, and the aircraft's very design combined to save the lives of 155 people
30:54but investigators still want to know how birds crippled two highly advanced jet engines
31:00and if they can stop it from happening again
31:03eight days after the crash
31:08investigators are finally able to examine the engines in detail
31:13Richard Dolbier has spent much of his career studying collisions between birds and airplanes
31:19when aircraft strikes a bird generally there's not much left of the bird particularly if that bird goes through the engine
31:34the engines are analyzed piece by piece to try and figure out exactly what happened 3,000 feet above New York
31:42let's look inside
31:44we expose the engine surfaces to a blacklight
31:48proteins from many tissues will fluoresce with a blacklight
31:53much of the tissue was already gone
31:56but many of the proteins stayed on the surfaces of the engine
32:01look at that
32:06deep in the right engine investigators find about a cup of charred remains
32:11most of the remains found were just muscle tissue bone fragments
32:17and minuscule feather remains
32:20I was able to find about 29 samples in one engine and 14 in the other
32:26but the engines aren't the only part of the plane that's been damaged
32:32birds
32:34whoa
32:35the aircraft hit many birds
32:37we found evidence on the wings and on the flaps and on the fuselage
32:41but the plane can still fly when that occurs
32:44the threat posed by bird strikes is well known
32:48bird strikes are a much bigger problem than the general public realizes
32:54in the last 20 years there have been approximately 210 aircraft that have been destroyed because of collisions with birds
33:02this Boeing 757 ingested a crow while taking off from Manchester England later landing safely
33:11in 2008 alone there were four dramatic accidents
33:16a Boeing 747 sucked a kestrel into one of its engines
33:20the crew aborted takeoff and survived
33:23the plane was ruined
33:26this jet ingested pelicans into both engines and one ended up in the cockpit
33:31repairs cost two million dollars
33:34the engine of an MD 10 was severely damaged by a gadwall
33:39the repair cost was nine hundred thousand dollars
33:42and five people were killed when this Cessna smashed into at least one pelican
33:49more than two hundred people have died in bird strike accidents since 1988
33:56the problem could get worse because there are more birds out there
34:02by restricting the use of pesticides that were hazardous to birds such as DDT
34:08we've seen a tremendous rebound in the populations of bird species
34:14a remarkable increase in the Canada geese that are resident non-migratory birds
34:20nationwide the population has grown from about one million to about four million
34:27at LaGuardia one of the airport's biggest problems is a year-round goose colony on nearby Rikers Island
34:35from the year 2002 to 2004 there were eight Canada goose strikes at LaGuardia Airport
34:49involved birds either on the airport or right off of the airport
34:53one of those strikes almost caused a plane to crash and it was very close call
34:58for the past several years airport officials have rounded up hundreds of geese from Rikers Island
35:04and euthanized them it's controversial but should be effective
35:11so where did these birds come from
35:17if the geese that hit US Airways Flight 1549 were local they can be controlled
35:23investigators need to know more about them
35:26the remains that we did find were so small that we couldn't really tell what type of birds
35:31we enlisted the help of the Smithsonian institution
35:34they can take remains even very small remains
35:38small pieces of feathers or flesh or whatever and they can identify them
35:44the hope is the DNA analysis of the remains will not only confirm the bird species
35:49but also offer clues as to where they came from
35:56while they wait for answers investigators turn to answering the question of how a few birds
36:03forced a 68-ton jet from the sky
36:08before they can be used in a passenger jet engines undergo rigorous testing to prove they can perform under extreme conditions
36:21the tests include ingesting frozen bird carcasses
36:24the CFM turbofan engines that power the A320 passed those tests and was certified in 1996
36:31the large bird test required for the CFM engine is shooting a four-pound bird from an air cannon into the engine which is running at near full power
36:48to pass the engines don't have to keep running they only have to stay together which they did on Sullenberger's plane
36:56well the engines did not experience what we call uncontained failures
37:00no large chunks of fan blades or anything flew out through the cowls
37:05to hurt people inside the airplane
37:09fan blades are always the most interesting part to look at
37:14and they often tell quite a story
37:17a series of fan blades throughout the engine compress incoming air until it's ignited in the core
37:24creating thrust ingested birds can wreak havoc on this process
37:31when a fan blade of an engine fails it causes a lot of continuing damage
37:37in this particular case all the fan blades were there
37:41they suffered severe damage but none were broken
37:44an analysis of the engines shows that while the primary fan blades survived the impact
37:49the delicate machinery inside the cores of both engines did not
37:56uh oh
37:58we got one roll
37:59both of them rolling back
38:02once we went into the engine itself into the core
38:05we determined that there was significant damage
38:08when a bird gets ingested into the core it is such a large mass compared to these blades
38:14then it does a lot of damage to them
38:17the birds ingested into flight 1549
38:20mayday mayday mayday this is cactus 1549
38:23ripped apart the engine's compressors
38:25metal shards from these broken compressors were sucked deep into the cores of both engines
38:30shutting them down
38:31we've hit birds we've lost thrust in both engines
38:33when dna results come back from the smithsonian institution
38:40investigators finally understand why flight 1549 lost both its engines
38:47the birds that struck sullenberger and skiles aircraft were adult canada geese
38:52they were far larger than anything the engines were ever tested for
38:55because of that analysis we know that these birds ingested each probably weighed about 10 pounds
39:04the tests also confirmed that as many as four large birds had hit flight 1549's engines
39:10it was simply too much for them to handle
39:14rarely do birds get ingested into the core of the engine
39:18rarely does an engine ingest the bird and then stop running completely
39:23that's a very rare event
39:25ignition start
39:27what makes this one even rarer is that both engines ingested birds and both shut down
39:33we're going to be in the Hudson
39:36the dna test also proves that the geese involved in this accident were not the local geese that LaGuardia has worked so hard to manage
39:44these were geese that had been in northern Canada
39:52during the preceding summer they were migratory geese
39:56the collision between the migrating geese and flight 1549 happened seven kilometers from the airport
40:02it means that none of the existing programs for reducing the number of birds would have prevented the collision
40:08it also means that what happened to that flight could happen again
40:12unless a way can be found to keep birds and planes apart
40:26every year about two million planes pass over New York's airspace
40:30most people do not appreciate the problems that birds can cause to aircraft
40:36they don't realize how a small seemingly insignificant organism in relation to the size of an aircraft can cause these kinds of catastrophic failures
40:48the airline industry needs to find solutions to bird strikes
40:54placing screens in front of the engines is one of the most obvious answers
40:58but there are serious drawbacks
41:00screens can fall off
41:02screens can break
41:04and then they would be ingested into the engine causing similar damage or more catastrophic damage
41:10screens can also introduce turbulence to the airflow which can starve the engines of air causing them to fail
41:20winter weather is also a serious problem for engine screens
41:24a screen is a perfect ice builder and it will accrete ice very quickly in icing conditions
41:32a more promising solution is already being tested in several American cities including New York
41:38at John F. Kennedy Airport specialized radar is sweeping the skies looking for birds near planes
41:46most airports are equipped with radar that sends out radio waves that simply bounce off objects in the sky
41:52typically only large objects are seen
41:55and most of this information isn't passed along to air traffic controllers
41:59the fact is that their scopes would be cluttered with things
42:05tall masts from ships for instance would pop up on their radar as low targets
42:09the clutter in fact would interfere with air traffic control
42:13and that's not a good thing
42:15but now finely calibrated avian radar is being tested at JFK
42:20it can distinguish items the size of hummingbirds
42:24if any birds are detected moving through flight paths crews could be alerted
42:29I would love to see bird radar technology
42:33the key would be how to incorporate that without increasing workload
42:37to an already stressed controller
42:39tests continue but widespread use of avian radar is still years away
42:45and then collisions between birds and planes will continue
43:02what the safe outcome of flight 1549 proved is that right now
43:06the best defense against this threat is a good team in the cockpit
43:10we had a very experienced flight crew with very good training
43:16my aircraft
43:18your aircraft
43:19get the QRH
43:20all your training that you've done
43:22all the years that you know you've been flying the airplanes
43:25it all just comes back to you when you need it
43:28my aircraft
43:30your aircraft
43:31Sully and I worked together extremely well in this event
43:34I knew what was in his mind and he knew what was in my mind
43:38we were both accomplishing our individual roles
43:41but we had a knowledge of the whole situation
43:45okay you need to return to LaGuardia
43:47turn left heading 2-2-0
43:492-2-0
43:50this event definitely puts things in perspective for you as a controller
43:53one thing I appreciate more the teamwork
43:56and how when you work together you can pretty much accomplish
43:59whatever you need to accomplish
44:01off to your right side is Teterboro Airport
44:03you want to try and make Teterboro?
44:04we're going to be in the Hudson
44:05the landing in the Hudson took training and skill
44:09it also took a bit of luck
44:11we had a very clear day
44:14we had a perfect condition for the river
44:17so there was just a series of really fortunate events that occurred
44:21that assisted this crew in landing successfully on the river
44:26well the safety board
44:29we don't really deal in miracles very often
44:32but this event had a lot of things that came together at the right time
44:35in the right place
44:36and so a lot of us are thinking
44:39well maybe we do have a miracle here
44:41what a view of the Hudson today
44:44a lot of us wish us to do
44:46come out of prayer
44:47as well
44:48that we don't have to come together
44:49to help us to do this
44:50so we will be doing it
44:51because we're still here
44:52and we'll be telling you
44:53we're still here
44:54here but the way we do
44:55we have to do
44:56oh
44:57here it is
44:58we're still here
44:59we're still here
45:00here
45:01who are still here
45:02here
45:03for us
45:04and you
45:05here
45:06here
45:07here
45:08are
45:09we are