breaking news, NYC

[lagilman]

for those of you off the grapevine, a US Airways plane went down in the Hudson River just now. They're saying that it looks like they ran into trouble right away, and the pilot made the choice to do a controlled crash into the river, rather than risk a fully-fueled plane hit the Very Populated Areas on either side o the river (in Manhattan and NJ).

The plane is intact, observers say they saw at least one flotation slide inflate, and emergency vehicles responded immediately, so here's hoping for the best.

(this was near the Intrepid, for those who know NYC geography)

And yes, "a plane went down" can still send locals into a state of OMGWTF rushing for the tv/radio/news website.

Update: word is, the plane hit a flock of geese that damaged the engines. Can we now PLEASE get rid of the damn things as a menace?

EtA: and this, boys and girls, is why you listen to the emergency instructions before you settle in for your nap. Or, at very least, make note of where the exits are when you sit down.

EtA2: all cold, wet, and banged up, but reportedly okay. Kudos not only to the plane crew, but to the ferry operators who diverted to do rescue work, and the folk of the NYPD and NYFD, who were on the scene before the news crews were (I think the response time was something like 7 minutes!) Also: anyone who normally takes the ferry home? Might want to stay in NYC for dinner tonight. Commute's gonna be FUBAR'd, since every ferry in reach seemingly got diverted for rescue duty...




(The Swivet has a better shot, but it won't load here. Please note steerage passengers standing on the wing, while First Class is loaded into a life raft....)

Comments

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

I saw it in my breaking news email.

CNN Live on TV has a passenger on, he's fairly certain that EVERYONE has been taken off/ made it off the plane.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

And YES, he says there was initial panic, but that everyone settled down and started following directions as they were told.
Kudos to that flight crew.

[lagilman]

Yeah -- they're saying it was a textbook example of an emergency water ditching, especially considering the skyscrapers and limited airspace available (they had just taken off from LGA). Kudos to the pilot and crew.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

Yup, that's what the 2nd passenger is saying, that it was very gentle, relatively short in how long it took to set down.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

It's surreal seeing photos of people standing on the wings, with lifejackets, waiting for the ferries.

[smoemeth.livejournal.com]

... and a friend is sitting at LGA wondering if she'll actually take off this afternoon, and wondering if she *really* wants to ... :}

I'm flying out of JFK tomorrow. Eeep. Geese stay the hell away!!

[jslinder.livejournal.com]

Watching the web feed, where it was also noted that very few if any passengers on ferries objected to the diversion and most either stayed out of the way or assisted with rescues.

Anecdotal reports indicates that some ferry passengers gave up coats, etc to help the passengers in wet clothing.

Are you sure this is NYC?

[lagilman]

I know (assume) that was tongue in cheek, but the thing about NYC is its residents know how to handle crisis.

The bitching and whinging will commence sometime after 6:20pm this evening.

[jslinder.livejournal.com]

It was most definitely tongue in cheek. I'm superbly impressed at how it was handled at all levels.

[lagilman]

I figured as much. And what's impressing me is how it's _not_ being handled -- there was a press conference, but other than that, it's mainly news teams running around interviewing each other (apparently, half the reporting staff of the major NYC tv stations live in the lower UWS. Not surprising, that...)

[lauriemann.livejournal.com]

It's an amazing story.

I remember that day about 28 years ago when a plane crashed into the Potomac and I think only about 10 people survived it. It seems like people really learned from that experience.

The USAirways crew should get medals for doing all the right things.

[lagilman]

Having the ferries there to pluck people out of the freezing-cold water immediately certainly helped, as did a lot of changes to emergency procedure and equipment over the years since then, ayuh.

And I suspect the crew would be satisfied with being taken off any employee reduction lists....

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

They mentioned how different from that crash this was.

The pilot of this plane is a 29yr vet as well as a former Air Force pilot. No wonder he kept his cool.

[ziactrice.livejournal.com]

Gad? It was really that long ago?

I remember seeing the footage of the guy onshore who - realizing there was no other help near - ditched his clothing and went in after the woman. He almost died himself, but in the end, he did manage to get them both to where later-arriving rescuers got them out. I can still remember hearing the news reporter blather on about how difficult a time he was having - as I watched the propwash THROWING UP SPRAY around the attempted rescue! I was screaming at the TV for the copter to BACK OFF!

Heh. As if I could effect events through the magic box.

Some EMS trivia for you :)

[lyonessnyc.livejournal.com]

I think the wings were full and couldn't really support any more people without them falling into the water, and I believe that what you're seeing as a life raft was actually the emergency inflatable ramp.

My brother's ambulance unit was second on the scene, and he's not FDNY -- he's Transcare Ambulance. In this sort of MCI, NY Emergency Services do an "all hands on deck" sort of mobilization. Another FYI on NY EMS -- most ambulance units are not FDNY -- they're often hospital or private units. Some are transport units, and are not generally mobilized via 911, and others are on the 911 system and get dispatched via 911 operator to calls.

Re: Some EMS trivia for you :)

[lagilman]

always good to have a Technical Advisor on the scene. *grin* Thanks.

(btw, for those of you going 'huh?" the life raft/wings lyonessnyc is referring to were off a joke I made on a shared mailing list about first class vs steerage removal methods)

Re: Some EMS trivia for you :)

[handlebar605.livejournal.com]

as someone who has flown on a few different aircraft, I know that all of the inflatable emergency ramps are detachable from the aircraft in case of water landing to be used as life rafts and seeing as first class is right by the main doors, yeah I'm jumping in the raft. a number of aircraft have emergency evacuation doors/windows over the wings of the aircraft, so that the immediate location for them would indeed be, onto the aircrafts wings.

A number of military aircraft I've been on, have had the wings on the top of the fuselage and a big vehicle loading door in the back.

Re: Some EMS trivia for you :)

[lyonessnyc.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! Haven't talked to my brother directly yet but I'm sure I'll get quite a tale this weekend at family dinner.

"Please note steerage passengers standing on the wing, while First Class is loaded into a life raft....)"

That's what I was referring to, in your post. :) (Although you did refer to it there, too.)

[christymarx.livejournal.com]

Technically, *every* landing is a controlled crash, as I was taught when I took a few flying lessons.

But that pilot did an amazing job of setting down that plane. He deserves a medal.