January 16, 2009

expert’s reaction to a plane’s emergency landing on the Hudson River, New York

The passenger aircraft was landed in the Hudson River after experiencing engine failure caused by bird strike. No one was killed, and only one passenger was injured.

Jeff Jupp, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and retired former Director Technical of Airbus UK, said:

“The Airbus A320 looks as though it behaved impeccably in its forced landing on the Hudson River and the pilot and crew did an amazing job. Assuming it lost all power in both engines due to a multiple bird strike, this “fly by wire” aircraft would remain fully controllable as it glided down using emergency electric power from batteries and a drop down ram air turbine.

“Aircraft are designed to ditch in water and to float like this, even when loaded with payload and fuel – as in this case having just taken off from La Guardia. To meet the regulations the lower rear fuselage is sometimes strengthened if necessary to meet the loads when ditching. The fuselage is designed to be a pressure vessel at altitude so, unless it’s damaged, it will be watertight as well – but will float slightly tail down so there is a drill to follow about which doors can be opened safely. The seats are also designed to withstand even more sudden deceleration than would have happened on ditching in water.”