[MelodyL]

Get a load of this:

NEW YORK - A US Airways plane crashed into the frigid Hudson River on Thursday afternoon after striking a bird that disabled two engines, sending 150 on board scrambling onto rescue boats, authorities say. No deaths or serious injuries were immediately reported.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown says the US Airways Flight 1549 had just taken off from LaGuardia Airport en route to Charlotte, N.C., when the crash occurred in the river near 48th Street in midtown Manhattan.

Brown says the plane, an Airbus 320, appears to have hit one or more birds.

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Let me ask all of you a question. Do you think some birds BROUGHT DOWN THIS PLANE?

I can see MAYBE, if it was a piper cub or one of those lightweight things.

BUT AN AIRBUS???

BIRDS????

I'd LOVE to hear your comments on this one.

Melody

[Alffe]

Do you have any idea what a Canadian Goose weighs? *grin

[mrsD]

this happens. Some airports have elaborate ways of keeping the birds away.

They get in the turbines and break the fans off.

http://icwdm.org/handbook/birds/birdAirport.asp

[PolarExpress]

Yes, I watched some of the news coverage of this while it was going on. They're very lucky to have had such a good pilot in charge (went to the Air Force Academy), and so many ferry boats in the area till rescue could get there. This happy ending could have turned out very different.

[Koala77]

It was on our TV news a few minutes after the plane went down, and our TV stations kept crossing back for updates. We could see people getting out onto the wing of the plane, and then onto the ferries.

We were told that the plane flew into a flock of birds, and two engines had smoke coming from them which filled the plane. I daresay that birds got sucked into the engines. They said it occurred about 3 minutes after take off.

So far our news reports say that no-one was killed or seriously injured. Thank the Lord.

[MelodyL]

I have only one thing to say ( and I have no idea what a Canadian Goose is). lol

We went to the moon, we have the internet, cell phones, instant communications via web email, text, etc.

AND WE CAN'T GET RID OF FREAKIN BIRDS??

Holy Cow.

I shudder what I will think the next time I get on a plane (if I ever do).

The people were laughing and god bless them, they are fine.

It could have been MUCH MUCH WORSE.

Every channel on tv has the plane just sitting in the water.

Never saw such a thing in all my life.

I'm certain that tomorrow morning it will be in every single NY newspaper.

And here's an interesting thing. In my local newspaper this morning, it seems that a Gull attacked a woman eating ice cream. It hit her in the head, it tried to steal her ice cream and the husband had to hit the bird to get it off of his wife.

The bird then had to be euthanized. THIS IS IN TODAY'S NEWSPAPER.

And then birds fly into a plane???

[Curious]

Think of a flying turkey. They can weigh up to 20lbs.

The birds get accustomed to the noise of the planes. Very hard to keep them away.

[tovaxin_lab_rat]

Melody

As a pilot, I can say that without a doubt, birds are the single deadliest airborne danger for a pilot.

The deadliest crash involving a commercial flight and birds was in 1960. It was an Eastern Airlines Lockheed L-188 Electra and a flock of starlings. The flight departed Boston and flew into a flock of starlings. All four engines suffered catastrophic damage and the plane went down killing 62 people aboard, 9 people survived.

Geese have been a problem around airports for a long time. Airports and airlines spend millions of dollars every year trying to figure out how to keep birds from congregating around airports. Airplane manufacturers spend millions and millions of dollars on maintenance every year repairing damage done by engines that have ingested birds.

A friend of ours was killed by a turkey buzzard that went through the cockpit of his T-2 (a Navy trainer) at 10,000' . No one ever thought they would see a turkey buzzard that high in the air.

So yes, Melody, a bird ingested in the engine of an commercial airliner at a low altitude can cause it to have to make an emergency landing.

Be thankful the crew knew exactly what happened and did everything right and saved all those people!

[Chemar]

Thanks for that background info Cheryl. I have heard of the bird danger before but never realised quite how serious it is

I had the TV on in the background while working today so became aware of this as soon as CNN did....

Bravo to that pilot for avoiding what could have been a horrible disaster!

I do pray for all who were on board as that must have been a very traumatizing experience. Nevermind for their anxious family and friends
There must also have been people in buildings etc around the area who freaked at seeing a plane that low

I am just so thankful for a good ending to the drama

[oldsteve]

Yep..sucking birds (or anything) into the intake of a jet engine can cause serious damage. I remember being on the flight deck of a carrier back in the day when something got into the intake of one of our helos. Quite a light show it caused.

That's why we had to do FOD (Foreign Object Damage) walk-downs twice a day and pick up anything that wasn't bolted down.

The Portland International Airport uses propane cannons and green lasers to drive away and deter birds. The green lasers don't harm the birds. It just confuses them because the birds think that they're about to hit something.

At least, that's how I understand it.