“This is the captain speaking, brace for impact.” This is how Chesley B. Sullenberger (“Sully”) addressed his 150 passengers before doing the maneuver known as the “miracle on the Hudson”. After colliding with a flock of birds and losing both engines, the highly experienced pilot ignored orders and followed his intuition. This led to a successful landing at the Hudson River.
This story began at 3:25 pm on January 15, 2009. It all started at LaGuardia airport in New York. The day was cold and clear and there was no impediment for US Airways Flight 1549 to take off.
In command was Captain Sullenberger, “Sully,” a 57-year-old former US Air Force pilot. He had over 20,000 flight hours behind him, but still, he couldn’t imagine he would have to go through such a scary experience. Within two minutes of taking off, a flock of birds hit the cabin.
They were Canadian geese. The cabin darkened and the passengers began to hear the impact of rather strong blows. Something unusual happened within seconds. Sadly, these animals collide with airplanes from time to time. What’s not common is for the engines to deactivate as a consequence. But this is exactly what happened!
Subsequently, the aircraft began to descend, reaching a speed of 242 mph at an altitude of about 1640 feet. The controllers got to work at LaGuardia airport. They gave priority to Flight 1549 so it could return. However, to everyone’s surprise, Captain Sully told the tower he wasn’t going to turn around, disregarding their orders.
Seconds later, they warned him that the closest airport was Teterboro, in Bergen County, New Jersey. However, Sully, along with his co-pilot decided to continue his plan and disregard their instructions.
Sully assessed the best course of action in just over a minute. Returning to LaGuardia airport would be reckless without engines. Similarly, going to the one in Teterboro wasn’t a very good strategy. This is because its runways are too short for a commercial jet as large as Airbus A320. The most suitable outlet was the Hudson River itself. Captain Sully did it with unusual expertise that led to the “miracle in the Hudson”.
**Source: https://exploringyourmind.com/the-miracle-on-the-hudson-a-story-about-intuition/
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