Miracle on the Hudson movie?

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feralkid

Lifer
Jan 28, 2002
17,010
5,077
136
Not to diminish what this guy did, and I don't know the full details of what happened afterwards, but pretty sure this guy was just doing his job. I mean, he emergency landed a plane. Yes, that's amazing and cool and stuff. But if we didn't want pilots that have those special skills, joe schmoe could be a pilot and everyone would just die in an emergency situation.

I will not see this movie because there isn't a movie here to see. Hero or not.


So...I guess you didn't like "Flight"?
 

bruceb

Diamond Member
Aug 20, 2004
8,874
111
106
At that altitude with both engines out, getting to either LaGuardia or even Teterboro airport would not be possible. Planes lose a certain amount of altitude per minute when the engines fail. The lower you are, the denser the air and the harder it is to glide down. Now if the plane had lost engines at say 15-20K feet maybe he gets to a runway, depending on where it is and if the plane needs to make any turns. Any turns will reduce airspeed and shorten the potential glide distance. Some planes also glide a lot better than others.
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,770
126
That's what caught my attention. The investigation part by the FAA. Did they really expect this pilot to circle back to the airport with twin engine failure and at that altitude??? It's hard enough with single engine failure.

Yea, so I read somewhere about 50% of pilots in the simulator made it back to LG but they knew IN ADVANCE they would have a 100% loss of thrust and made the turn back to LG right away, that's COMPLETELY unfair to Sully who did not have that luxury. What Sully DID see was the Hudson in a calm state and he knew his skill level and performed a perfect ditching. Yes, a ditching even in a smooth river carries big risk but NOT making it back to LG carries a 100% death in a fire-ball short of the airport. Shit, one gust of unexpected wind means he comes up short, WAY too big a gamble with that idea.
 
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MongGrel

Lifer
Dec 3, 2013
38,466
3,067
121
Why watch Tom Hanks play Sully Sullenberger when you can watch Sully Sullenberger play Tom Hanks?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbULDhHWnno

XatD0CA.gif
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,770
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So...I guess you didn't like "Flight"?

I thought "Flight" was an awesome movie, Denzel got robbed for best actor that year and John Goodman, does he ever not deliver?. As an aviation buff there were several "issues" with that aspect, first thing would be if you're sitting next to the Captain and he reeks of booze you DO NOT fly, you are obligated by FAA rules to throw him under the bus or YOU might lose you license. Yea, it seems harsh but that's how it would normally work. Then flying through a very turbulent thunderstorm you simply don't tax the airframe by pushing that kind of speed like that. Finally the crash scene, while very well done in many aspects has a lot of glaring inaccuracies in it. When a pilot puts out an engine fire that engine is also deprived of fuel, electrical, hydraulic as well, it's a last-ditch effort as the flooding of the nacelle with halon gas will put out almost any fire, but it will no longer be operable. In "Flight" Whip asks Margret for "full power!" AFTER the SO has already "snuffed" both engines, nothing would have happened. Also after coming around the situation that caused the uncontrollable dive (broken elevator) would again force the plane into a nose-down attitude, there would be no gentle glide onto a field.
 

MongGrel

Lifer
Dec 3, 2013
38,466
3,067
121
Yeah, that low altitude air makes it harder to glide. Is why those high altitude spy planes have always have been iffy staying aloft in the thin air for years :)
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,770
126
At that altitude with both engines out, getting to either LaGuardia or even Teterboro airport would not be possible. Planes lose a certain amount of altitude per minute when the engines fail. The lower you are, the denser the air and the harder it is to glide down. Now if the plane had lost engines at say 15-20K feet maybe he gets to a runway, depending on where it is and if the plane needs to make any turns. Any turns will reduce airspeed and shorten the potential glide distance. Some planes also glide a lot better than others.

It was just way to close to try and get back to LaGuardia, it MIGHT have been possible but as I said earlier the 8/15 that did so in the simulator already knew what they were going to do and immediately turned back, Sully was busy trying to see if he could get at least one engine re-started. Planes don't "lose a certain amount of altitude", they do so because the pilot is pushing the control yoke down trading altitude for airspeed to prevent a stall and every plane has a different "glide ratio" depending on it's design. Air is more dense closer to sea level so if anything a plane should glide a bit better at lower altitudes. The "Gimli glider" went close to 80 miles witout any power and landed at an old airstrip that had been converted into a drag-strip!, amazing story..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bct1mWUp8to
 

Linux23

Lifer
Apr 9, 2000
11,374
741
126
It was just way to close to try and get back to LaGuardia, it MIGHT have been possible but as I said earlier the 8/15 that did so in the simulator already knew what they were going to do and immediately turned back, Sully was busy trying to see if he could get at least one engine re-started. Planes don't "lose a certain amount of altitude", they do so because the pilot is pushing the control yoke down trading altitude for airspeed to prevent a stall and every plane has a different "glide ratio" depending on it's design. Air is more dense closer to sea level so if anything a plane should glide a bit better at lower altitudes. The "Gimli glider" went close to 80 miles witout any power and landed at an old airstrip that had been converted into a drag-strip!, amazing story..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bct1mWUp8to
Hey Butch, are you a pilot? Thanks for the link btw.
 

who?

Platinum Member
Sep 1, 2012
2,327
42
91
Since he had 30 years in he qualified for full retirement and had something else to do with his time.
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,770
126
Hey Butch, are you a pilot? Thanks for the link btw.

No, just an aviation buff, it's interesting to me, all I need is a winning lotto ticket LOL!. Anyway what that pilot did in landing that 767 is probably the best demonstration of insane skill, he only had very limited hydraulic assist with all fuel gone and no engines yet turned a wide-body jet into a "crab" configuration over 60 degrees to slow it down for a safe landing and oh, no flaps to assist either!..
 
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BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,770
126
Since he had 30 years in he qualified for full retirement and had something else to do with his time.
65 is the maximum age you can be an airline pilot, you can still fly your own plane but not for AA or Delta. It used to be 60, it was raised to 65 in '09 as long as the SO is below 60.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
52,284
7,583
136
Flight looked cool, but Hudson...it seems like a 3-minute story. Like how they stretched the Hobbit into 3 movies.
 

who?

Platinum Member
Sep 1, 2012
2,327
42
91
He wasn't required to retire but many people retire as soon as they get thirty years in and do other things with their time. As soon as my mother realized that she could make more from her retirement fund than she would make continuing to be an english professor she retired and then my father did the same thing.
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
126
Not to diminish what this guy did, and I don't know the full details of what happened afterwards, but pretty sure this guy was just doing his job. I mean, he emergency landed a plane. Yes, that's amazing and cool and stuff. But if we didn't want pilots that have those special skills, joe schmoe could be a pilot and everyone would just die in an emergency situation.

I will not see this movie because there isn't a movie here to see. Hero or not.

So a fireman saving lives is just doing their normal job. I guess at your job I hope you don't get any extra incentives on bonus for doing your job either because you're not doing anything special.
 

sportage

Lifer
Feb 1, 2008
11,492
3,163
136
What's sad to me is that this accident took a well experienced pilot off the job as he became a media darling.

Considering what a pilot makes these day, and his financial hardship was brought up in the movie, I'd go for the celebrity thing too.
Pilot, $35.000. Celebrity, 1 mill +.
Pilot? Celebrity? Pilot? Celebrity?
$35,000? 1 mill? $35,000. 1 mill?
Hmmmm.

However, the film was very good.
And informative.
I have no doubt the airline and the cost of one plane was weighted against the risking of 155 lives. Most airlines would have opted for the risk. And let their lawyers handle whatever the human loss.
 
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bradly1101

Diamond Member
May 5, 2013
4,689
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www.bradlygsmith.org
Considering what a pilot makes these day, and his financial hardship was brought up in the movie, I'd go for the celebrity thing too.
Pilot, $35.000. Celebrity, 1 mill +.
Pilot? Celebrity? Pilot? Celebrity?
$35,000? 1 mill? $35,000. 1 mill?
Hmmmm.

However, the film was very good.
And informative.
I have no doubt the airline and the cost of one plane was weighted against the risking of 155 lives. Most airlines would have opted for the risk. And let their lawyers handle whatever the human loss.
I don't mean to diminish his heroism or his logic regarding what was the most profitable choice. We need good pilots.