Airplane emergency landing on the Hudson. "Prepare to strike!" The true story of the Miracle on the Hudson. Mooring from the sky

Currently, several areas are involved in transporting people: road, rail and, of course, aviation. The latter, by the way, is considered the safest, since the number of emergency situations is much less. Flying on an airplane one of the most comfortable and fastest, so most people are still inclined to this type of movement from the point A to point B. But things don’t always turn out as originally planned.

No options
There are times when a plane needs to make an emergency landing. For example, the engine failed or caught fire. You have to sit absolutely anywhere. So at the end of the 60s, a Russian pilot surname Mostovoy made an emergency landing on Neva when at the plane Tu-124 The right engine failed.

A few decades later, history repeats itself. This time I had to save the passengers by making an emergency landing on Hudson. Another heroic rescue of people cannot be ignored.

"Top flyer"
– a young and ambitious young man who became interested in aircraft technology in his early childhood. In the year when the Soviet pilot made an emergency landing, Chesley was already a member of society Mensa's IQ. At that time he was only twelve years old.

A few years later he joins a famous flying club. There he comes to the realization that being a pilot is his life’s dream. For this he was ready to do anything. A little later, when Chesley became an adult, he entered the flight academy United States of America. Having liked all the teachers and proving that the young man deserves to be a pilot, he graduates from the educational institution with the highest qualifications - Top Flyer, which translates into Russian as “high-class pilot.”

Seven long years Sullenberger worked as a military aviation pilot, performing various combat missions. Over time, he realizes that this is not exactly what he wanted to do all his life. And then he makes one of the most important decisions in his life - he moves into civil aviation. Here his career took off. He even opened his own small company that advises people on aviation safety.

But the pilot spent most of his time and energy on exactly what he liked - flying the aircraft. For more than thirty years he was one of the best pilots of the famous airline USA – US Airways, where during the entire practice there was not a single accident.

Oh those birds
The real story of a miracle Hudson starts in January 2009. The pilot, as usual, comes to work, where he had to transport passengers from New York to Seattle with a landing at Charlotte. The passenger airliner was scheduled to take off at 3:20 p.m.

Interesting fact: the pilot worked only for US Airways all his life, without even thinking about changing the airline.

The flight was to be carried out at Airbus A320, which was released in 1999. During its entire operation, the liner never caused any complaints, since scheduled maintenance was carried out on time. Second pilot - Geoffrey Skiles, who worked in this company for about two decades, but boarded the A320 for the second time in his life.

In total, there were a little more than 150 people on board the plane, including pilots and flight attendants. But immediately after lifting into the sky, about a minute and a half later, something terrible happened– a large flock of geese came across the liner. If the birds had hit one engine, causing it to fail, the plane would have flown to its destination using the other. And in this case, the geese ended up in both engines, which, oddly enough, failed.

Passengers in the aircraft cabin heard strong impacts. The smell of smoke penetrated inside, and some people saw burning engines through the porthole window, which, of course, caused great panic inside the cabin.

Shall we take a swim?
Chesley informed controllers on the ground that he was required to make an emergency landing. Since the plane was in the air for a minute and a half and failed to rise to the required altitude, the conclusion was made immediately - it was useless to return, because the airliner simply would not make it. There was also the idea of ​​landing the aircraft in a neighboring city - Teterboro. But the situation repeats itself: the altitude reserve is not enough to reach your destination. At this point, the connection with the earth is interrupted. Pilots decide to turn A320 towards the south, where the river flows Hudson. Seeing the huge Washington Bridge in front of me, Chesley and my partner were able to fly around it, landing on the water. At that moment, there was already serious panic in the cabin of the airliner, but the pilot calmed people down with the words: “Attention, forced landing on water. Everyone keep calm".

The landing was successful - only a few people were injured, but no one died. The plane plunged under water for a few seconds and then “surfaced” out. There was no way out of the liner by jumping overboard, as this could have resulted in death. This is because it’s frosty January outside, and the water, naturally, is icy.

Then the passengers began to climb onto the wings and body of the aircraft. Coast Guard personnel and volunteers with watercraft moved to help. All people were saved. And the captain, as expected, is the last to leave the board, making sure that there is no one left on board.

Honor and glory
The liner was towed to the nearest shore and transferred to the museum. After the real story of the plane, called the “Miracle on the Hudson,” it never took off into the sky again.

The pilot gained worldwide fame by heroically saving people. Many television shows began to invite Chesley to visit again to hear this terrible story first-hand.

A few years later, a film of the same name “”, starring a famous actor, was released on television. Tom Hanks.

On September 8, the film “Miracle on the Hudson” (Sully) was released - about how a heroic pilot landed a distressed airliner on the river.

Chesley "Sally" Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) sits in a hotel and watches the news. He also runs. He still remembers. The fact is that a few days ago he was the captain of flight 1549 from New York to Charlotte, and shortly after takeoff both engines failed. Sully made an unexpected decision - he decided not to try to reach the nearest runway, but sat down on the water. On the Hudson, in January, when no one in their life had successfully splashed down a liner full of passengers - but Sally succeeded.

And now he's having nightmares, waiting for the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate, and not even going home. Everyone around him, from the mayor to ordinary townspeople, considers him a hero - and Sally is sort of in limbo, waiting for the results of the investigation.

Cinemafia found 11 facts about the filming of the film and is happy to share them with you.

1.

The film is based on the memoirs of Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the commander of the ill-fated flight. His book, Highest Duty, was published in October 2009. In 2010, the film rights were purchased by Frank Marshall and Ellyn Stewart; Around the same time, amateur pilot Harrison Ford introduced Marshall to Captain Sullenberger. However, only in 2015 did they get around to film adaptation - and it was immediately announced that Clint Eastwood would become the director. Sullenberger called the people working on the film a "dream team."

Chesley Sullenberger and Tom Hanks at the film premiere

2.

Sully said the story reflected his vision of the situation and that he was very pleased with the result. The pilot actually suffered from post-traumatic syndrome, manifested in insomnia, constant memories of what happened and high blood pressure.

3.

In order for Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart to better fit into the role, they worked on a flight simulator, programmed to also show an emergency landing on the Hudson.

4.

The film constantly talks from 208 seconds. The plane took off from New York at 15:23:54, and at 15:27:32 it collided with a school of geese. Landing occurred exactly at 15:31. Thus, exactly 208 seconds passed between the collision and landing on the water. The crew spent 28 seconds making a decision, and the remaining three minutes for the emergency landing itself.

5.

Many of those who participated in the real passenger rescue in January 2009 were hired to re-enact the passenger rescue scene. For example, the captain of the ferry who comes to the aid of the passengers was played by Vincent Lombardi, the real captain of the ferry who participated in the rescue operation in January 2009.

Filming of the pilots staying at the hotel after the accident took place at the same Marriott hotel where the real pilots lived after the accident.

Moreover, filming inside the airliner was carried out in a real A320 - albeit in California.

6.

The same A320 that Sully landed on the Hudson is now in the aviation museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was to Charlotte that the liner was heading that ill-fated day.

7.

Sully took his last flight as an airline pilot from New Orleans to Charlotte in 2010. Jeff Skiles was his co-pilot.

8.

Despite the fact that Eastwood handled the story of Sally himself with care, there were also complaints about the authenticity of the events. The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) stated that they were not sent the script or asked for advice during filming, and therefore were unable to ensure that their representatives' lines were not taken out of context and reflected their opinions.

Malcolm Brenner, who was part of the team investigating the emergency landing of the A320, insists that the board did not want to portray Sullenberger as a villain or blame him for the crash, unlike in the film.

Robert Benzon, also no longer working at the NTSB, was much more categorical: “We are not the KGB or the Gestapo, we did not want to accuse anyone just like that.”

What's more, the script appears to be based on Sally's book of memoirs - which, of course, barely mentions the more than year-long NTSB investigation.

9.

From the very beginning, Clint Eastwood had doubts about how to make the film - after all, in this story everything is good and there is not enough drama. He admitted that it was only from reading the script that he learned what role the NTSB investigation played. At the same time, Sally himself insisted that the real names of NTSB employees be removed from the script - because “these guys weren’t following me on purpose, they were doing their job.”

10.

Tom Hanks admitted that it was very difficult to dye his hair white - and in the end they had to stop dyeing his hair because his scalp couldn't handle any more dye.

The emergency landing of a plane on the Hudson River on January 15, 2009 will undoubtedly go down in the history of global aviation. The feat of the American pilot, who, despite the terrible situation, was still able to save the lives of 150 passengers, will be discussed for a long time during the training of young aviation representatives.

The emergency landing of the A320 on the Hudson was made by a former American pilot, who at that time was 57 years old - Chelsea Sullenberger. The pilot really showed incredible piloting skills, because he was able to land the plane on the water after engine failure, and thereby saved the lives of everyone on board. After the fall, Chelsea made sure twice that all passengers were safely able to leave the sinking aircraft, and only after that he himself left the sinking plane.

A feature film was recently released "Miracle on the Hudson", detailing this emergency landing.

Poster for the film "Miracle on the Hudson"

After an investigation conducted by the American media, a chronicle of the air crash was recreated:

  1. The A-320 took off from LaGuardia Airport in New York at 15:26, however, it failed to gain the required altitude.
  2. After the airbus rose to a height of about 800 meters, which took about 40-45 seconds, a message was received from the pilot. The report said that the air transport was unable to avoid a collision with two birds.
  3. Of course, everyone on board became aware of this later, after the chronicle of the investigation was published. And at the moment of the collision, people simply heard an incomprehensible knock and smelled a burning smell that began to penetrate into the cabin.

All passengers rushed to the windows, and were horrified to discover that the airbus began to rapidly lose altitude. It became clear to many that the cause of the loss of altitude was not turbulence, but some kind of emergency. Moreover, some people sitting closest to the tail of the airbus were able to see burning engines and black acrid smoke. And the alarming message on the board – “Fasten your seat belts” – continued to burn, whipping up horror and panic.

The pilot had no choice but to make a decision to make an emergency landing of the airbus, which he announced to the passengers. Because the plane's emergency landing on the Hudson River could have been "rough," to say the least, the pilot issued a message to prepare passengers for the possible impact. Everyone was ordered to take their seats in a safe position and fasten their seat belts.

Real footage taken by eyewitnesses

Pilot actions

What actions the pilot took at that moment and what generally happened in his cockpit became clear after the publication of the negotiations that the pilot conducted with the airport dispatcher:

  • Having assessed the current situation, Sally, this nickname was given to the American pilot by his work colleagues, contacted the control center with a request for permission to make an emergency landing on the runway. However, the flames engulfed the airbus so quickly that it became clear that there was simply not enough time to return to the airfield;
  • The second solution that the controller and pilot began to consider was to fly to the state of New Jersey to land at the nearest airport. But it only took the pilot 3 minutes to understand that the plane would not be able to stay in the air for that long, which he reported to the control center;
  • In the path of the plane, a playground in the park was visible. The area was large enough for an Airbus to land and the area was completely open. Sally said that he would land the aircraft on this particular park area. But the controller did not allow the plane to land in this place, since extensive repair work was carried out in this area, using oversized equipment;
  • emergency landing of the plane on water - this was the only thing left for the pilot to try to save the lives of passengers and crew.

It was this decision that was made by the hero of American aviation.

Difficulty landing on water

According to experts, making an emergency landing in the Hudson River, which separates New Jersey from Manhattan, was very risky and extremely difficult, but the air transport crew simply did not see any other option. And since the plane continued to burn, a decision had to be made as soon as possible. Professional pilots have noted several difficulties in landing a plane on the Hudson:

  1. The main difficulty lay in the design of the airbus, because its engines were located under the wing. And this meant that Sally had to make sure that they did not touch the water when landing. Otherwise, the plane would have gone into the water with all the people in it in a matter of seconds. To keep the engines from touching the water, the pilot had to do the almost impossible - make the massive airbus glide over the water surface for as long as possible and in no case allow the nose of the aircraft to touch the surface.
  2. Collision with sea vessels. An emergency landing of the plane on the water could lead to a collision with ships that were carrying out their planned flight. But by luck, the falling airbus was able to avoid a terrible collision, since there was not a single ship or yacht in the Hudson at that moment. After the successful landing, the Governor of New York called the incident “a miracle that happened over the Hudson,” and expressed great gratitude to the pilot for his feat, saving more than 150 lives.

Still from the film "Miracle on the Hudson"

How did local residents react to the crash?

Of course, the plane crash on the Hudson caused incredible panic among the residents of Manhattan. And this is not at all surprising, because the picture of a burning plane reminds many of the actions of a terrorist organization. Some immediately attributed this incident to the act of Arab terrorists, which led to terrible panic. But we must pay tribute to the local authorities, who quickly and organizedly reassured the population, giving citizens truthful information about the incident and completely refuting the terrorists’ attitude towards the Airbus crash.

After the plane crashed on the Hudson, passengers of the A-320 could only wait for the rescuers who were called by ground services when assessing the current situation. The Airbus pilot and crew members helped all passengers leave the board and climb onto the wing of the air transport in order to quickly transfer to rescue boats. Only five people required medical attention and were immediately taken to hospital. And to his wife Lorrie, Sally reported the incident after it was completed. According to his wife, Sullenberger called and said only two short phrases - “There was an accident on the way. “Everything ended well for passengers and crew.”

Time

15:31 EST (20:31 UTC)

Character

Emergency water landing

Cause

Engine surge due to collision with a flock of Canada geese

Place

Hudson River, New York, USA

Coordinates

40°46′10″ n. w. 74°00′17″ W d. / 40.769498° n. w. 74.004636° W d. / 40.769498; -74.004636 (G) (O)Coordinates: 40°46′10″ N. w. 74°00′17″ W d. / 40.769498° n. w. 74.004636° W d. / 40.769498; -74.004636 (G) (O)

Dead Wounded Aircraft

US Airways Airbus A320-214, identical to the one that splashed down on the Hudson

Model Airline Departure point

LaGuardia, New York, USA

Stops along the way

Charlotte Douglas, North Carolina, USA

Destination

Seattle/Tacoma, Seattle, USA

Flight Board number Date of issue Passengers Crew Survivors Images on Wikimedia Commons

An aviation incident that occurred on January 15, 2009. US Airways Airbus A320-214 operating flight AWE 1549 (call sign Cactus 1549) en route New York-North Carolina-Seattle, carrying 150 passengers and 5 crew members. 90 seconds after takeoff, the plane collided with a flock of Canada geese and both engines failed. The crew landed the plane safely on the waters of the Hudson River in New York. All 155 people on board survived, 5 people received serious injuries (one flight attendant suffered the most) and 78 minor injuries.

In total, 11 cases of controlled forced landings of passenger airliners on water are known. This case is the fourth without casualties.

  • 1 Airplane
  • 2 Crew
  • 3 Chronology of events
  • 4 Aircraft damage
  • 5 Investigation
  • 6 Consequences
  • 7 The further fate of the aircraft
  • 8 Cultural aspects
  • 9 See also
  • 10 Notes
  • 11 Links

Airplane

Aircraft N106US during operation in the US Airways Shuttle

Airbus A320-214 (registration N106US, serial 1044) launched in 1999. The first flight took place on June 15, 1999 under the test license plate F-WWII. On August 2 of the same year, it was transferred to US Airways and received tail number N106US. In the early 2000s, he flew for US Airways subsidiary US Airways Shuttle. Equipped with two CFM International 56-5B4/P engines. On the day of the incident, he completed 16,299 takeoff-landing cycles and flew 25,241 hours.

Crew

  • The pilot of the aircraft is 57-year-old Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. A highly experienced pilot, he is a former military pilot who flew the F-4 Phantom II from March 1973 to July 1980. After retirement, he continued to fly as a pilot for Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and US Airways. He is an expert in the field of flight safety and has a certificate for piloting gliders. Flight time was 19,663, 4,765 of which were on Airbus A320.
  • The co-pilot is 49-year-old Jeff Skiles. A very experienced pilot, he worked for US Airways for 23 years. Flight time was 15,643 hours. This was only his second flight on the Airbus A320. During the planning of the aircraft, he brought all its systems and mechanisms into a mode that ensured the airtightness of the aircraft's airframe when landing on water and subsequent long stay afloat.

Three flight attendants worked in the aircraft cabin:

  • Sheila Dail. 57 years old, with US Airways since 1980.
  • Doreen Welsh. 58 years old, with US Airways since 1970.
  • Donna Dent. 51 years old, with US Airways since 1982.

Chronology of events

Flight pattern of Flight 1549: after takeoff and collision with a flock of geese, turn south and land on the Hudson River

Flight AWE 1549 departed New York at 15:24 EST (20:24 UTC). 90 seconds after takeoff, the voice recorder recorded the crew commander's remark regarding bird strikes. A second later, the sounds of impacts and the rapid fading of the sound of both engines were recorded.

The plane managed to gain an altitude of 3,200 feet (975 meters). The PIC issued a distress signal and informed the dispatcher that the aircraft had collided with a flock of birds, as a result of which both engines were disabled. The loss of thrust of both engines was confirmed by a preliminary analysis of the flight recorders.

The pilots managed to turn the plane, which was taking off north, to the south, glide over the Hudson without hitting the George Washington Bridge, and splash down the plane opposite 48th Street in Manhattan without destroying the heavy, fueled plane. He finally stopped in front of 42nd Street. In total, the plane stayed in the air for about three minutes.

After splashdown, the plane remained on the surface of the water, and passengers exited through both emergency exits onto the wing plane. All passengers on board were rescued by ferries and boats, which approached the splashed-down plane a few minutes later (one of the ferry crossings between Manhattan and New Jersey is located near the splashdown site).

78 people received medical treatment for minor injuries and hypothermia (the water temperature was quite low; various media reported figures ranging from “near zero” to sometimes negative water temperatures).

Aircraft damage

Canada goose feather found in the right engine of Flight 1549

As a result of landing, rescue and towing operations, the aircraft's airframe received significant damage. organic remains and a bird feather were found on the right engine; the left engine separated during splashdown and sank, but on January 23 it was lifted from the bottom of the river and sent for examination.

Investigation

Consequences

The further fate of the aircraft

Aircraft N106US at the Carolinas Air Museum

After the passengers were evacuated, the plane was towed to a pier near the World Financial Center (approximately 6 km from the splashdown site), where it was raised.

After the investigation was completed, the aircraft was acquired by the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. At first the plane was without engines. The aircraft will be fully presented by the fall of 2012

Cultural aspects

The landing of US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson is depicted in the Canadian documentary television series Air Crash Investigations in the episode "Landing on the Hudson".

see also

  • Il-12 splashdown in Kazan
  • Tu-124 landing on the Neva

Notes

  1. Ken Belson. Updates From Plane Rescue in Hudson River. The New York Times Company (January 15, 2009). Retrieved January 16, 2009. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012.
  2. A passenger plane splashed down in the Hudson River. BBC Russian Service / BBC (15 January 2009). Retrieved January 16, 2009. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012.
  3. 1 2 (Russian) “Miracle on the Hudson”: a passenger plane fell into the river. All 155 people on board were rescued. NEWSru.com (January 16, 2009). Retrieved January 16, 2009. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012.
  4. (English) Russell Goldman. US Airways Hero Pilot Searched Plane Twice Before Leaving. ABCNews Internet Ventures/The Walt Disney Company (January 15). Retrieved January 16, 2009. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012.
  5. Pia Sarkar, Tom Liddy, Jeremy Olshan. Wife: Sully "s a "pilot"s pilot" (January 16, 2009). Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2009. (English)
  6. NTSB: US Airways jet's engines lost power together (inaccessible link - history). The Associated Press (January 18, 2009). Archived from the original on January 19, 2009.
  7. “Jewelry landing on the Hudson” on SMI.ru
  8. “Miracle over the Hudson” in Rossiyskaya Gazeta
  9. National Transportation Safety Board (January 21, 2009). NTSB Issues update on investigation into ditching of US Airways jetliner into Hudson River. Press release. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
  10. The left engine of the Airbus A-320 was lifted from the bottom of the Hudson, Lenta.Ru (January 23, 2009). Retrieved January 23, 2009.
  11. Aviation Museum lands flight 1549 engines | CharlotteObserver.com & The Charlotte Observer Newspaper

Links

  • (English) TV show “Hudson Plane Crash. What Really Happened."
  • (English) Video 3D reconstruction of events
  • Miracle on the Hudson
  • "Cactus Flight 1549 Accident Reconstruction (US Airways Animation)". Exosphere3D.
p·o·r ← 2008 · Aviation accidents and incidents 2009 · 2010→
  • Mi-171 crash (January 9)
  • Plane crash in Makhachkala (January 15)
  • US Airways Flight 1549(January 15)
  • Mi-24 crash (February 3)
  • Colgan Air Flight 3407 (February 12)
  • Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 (February 25)
  • FedEx Flight 80 (March 23)
  • Bell 407 crash (May 10)
  • C-130 crash in Indonesia (May 20)
  • Air France Flight 447 (June 1)
  • F-16 crash (June 22)
  • Flight 626 Yemenia (30 June)
  • Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 (July 15)
  • Disaster in Kandahar (July 19)
  • Mi-8 crash (July 22)
  • Aria Air Flight 1525 (July 24)
  • Tu-142 plane crash (November 6)
  • Northwest Airlines Flight 253 (December 25)
Disasters with 50 or more deaths are indicated in italics. The largest disaster of the year is highlighted.

A320 emergency landing on the Hudson

A320 Emergency Landing on Hudson Information About

Source: http://www.aviasafety.ru/inspection/investigations/815-a320-hudson-results

Based on its investigation into this serious incident, the National Transportation Safety Board has issued more than twenty-five new safety recommendations. The investigation revealed the presence of serious problems, which, however, did not prevent the crew from saving the lives of all 150 passengers and 5 crew members of the flight that took off on January 15, 2009 from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte. Two and a half minutes after takeoff, the plane collided with a flock of Canada geese, with several birds hitting the engines. This caused an almost complete loss of engine thrust, as a result of which the crew decided to splash down in the Hudson River.

The investigative report notes that it was only by sheer luck that the plan for this intracontinental flight included an aircraft equipped with water-recovery equipment. However, it was noted that in some cases the locations of life jackets, ropes and inflatable chutes were either inconvenient to use, out of reach, or did not function properly.

The report said some safety and emergency procedures were either ignored or could not be implemented during the chaotic three minutes after the collision. The crew lost valuable time trying to restart the engines because they did not know that it was impossible to return them to working order. After making the decision to splashdown in the Hudson, the crew did not prepare passengers for a water landing and were unable to complete the engine failure checklist reading.

Only four passengers managed to put on life jackets and tie them before landing on the water. Only 29 passengers were able to put on life jackets without tying them, and ten of them reported that they had great difficulty removing the life jacket from under their seat. Everyone noted that it was very difficult to tie a vest on themselves, so they did not have time to do it.

During landing, a crack formed in the tail of the plane, into which water began to flow. Because of this, it was not possible to use the two tail chutes, which simultaneously serve as life rafts. Many passengers not caught in the two front chutes involved, which contained 64 people, stood on the wings in knee-deep cold water.

The plane was also equipped with four lifelines that passengers could hold onto to avoid falling into the water, but the lifelines are located at the nose and tail of the plane, which flight attendants could not reach. If one got into water with a temperature of 4 degrees, there would be a high risk that this would lead to numerous casualties, since many people’s bodies cannot withstand more than 5 minutes in such conditions.

A favorable factor was also the fact that in the river area there were numerous boats and watercraft participating in river work. Thanks to their immediate help, everyone was able to be removed from the water.

Documents released by the Council say the crew could technically return to Runway 13 at La Guardia. However, given the time it took to assess the situation, Captain Sullenberger made the most appropriate decision to perform a water landing. The report highlights the speed with which the crew assessed available information and made decisions, as well as the coordinated work of its members.

The Council, first of all, recommends that all aircraft, even those that fly primarily over the earth's surface, be required to be equipped with life jackets and floating seat cushions for each passenger. A similar recommendation to the Federal Aviation Administration was withdrawn in 2003 due to cost-saving considerations.

The Transportation Safety Board also called for a study of the situation in which passengers adopt a crouched position during emergency landings - leaning forward and covering their heads with their hands. With the new shape of the chairs, this position becomes unsafe. During the water landing, two passengers who assumed this position in accordance with the recommendations given in the reminder sheet about what to do in such situations suffered shoulder fractures.

To prevent pilots from attempting to start engines that are inoperable, the Council recommended that the FAA work with NASA and the military to develop technology that can inform pilots about engine status. The Council also recommended new parameters for a water landing when both engines fail at low altitude.

Recommendations have been made to make engines more resistant to direct bird strikes. It is recommended that the Civil Aviation Authority conduct research into whether there is a relationship between the increase in the population of large birds, such as Canada geese and white pelicans, and the number of aircraft collisions with them. Last November, a Frontier Airlines A319 collided with a flock of snow geese, causing one engine to shut down and causing severe damage to another. The plane returned to the departure airfield, where it made an emergency landing.

If large bird strikes continue, the Council will recommend revisions to certification standards to ensure that engines remain operational after larger bird strikes. In the case of the A320 aircraft, the collision occurred with birds weighing about 4 kilograms, while the engines are designed to hit birds up to 2 kilograms. Newer generation engines can withstand collisions with four-kilogram birds, but in nature there are species weighing more than 6 kilograms.