Flight 1549

[Pew]

Conspiracy theory?????

A plane leaving the New York area crashes into the Hudson, but not a single other plane crashed into the Hudson that day.

The guy who landed the plane, this guy Sullenberger, just happened to be a pilot.

We've all heard of American Airlines, but US Airways?

Before the landing, passengers heard four loud booms coming from the right engine. You know what else makes boom noises? Police Academy's Michael Winslow. Where was Michael Winslow that day? And, while we're at it, what happened to the guy who played Commandant Lassard?

The Hudson just so happened to be full of water, making the landing feasible. A little too convenient?

One engine was still missing days after the accident, yet there's one place reporters never bothered to look: Sullenberger's house.

Following the accident, US Airways stock shot up 13 percent. You know who works for that company? The pilot and crew of Flight 1549.

Sullenberger's father was a dentist and his mother was a grade-school teacher. Coincidence?

Fact: Tickets to the presidential inauguration were nearly impossible to get. Fact: Sullenberger somehow obtained tickets ... from the president-elect of the United States.

Sullenberger just happened to be an experienced glider pilot and just happened to be over a body of water with no engine power that day. Coincidence?

The passengers are said to have escaped on rafts. That actually seems to hold up.

Add up the middle numbers in Flight 1549 and you get 9. Add 8 to the 1 and you also get 9. Now flip over the 999 and you get 666. Add up those numbers and you get 18. Coincidence?

Oh, by the way, it turns out that George "Commandant Lassard" Gaynes is scheduled to appear in Police Academy 8 in 2011. It's true. Check IMDb.

A hundred and fifty-five people wanted to go to Charlotte? Really?

It's mindblowing, really it is.....

[Sjöröveren]

Whenever anyone proposes some crazy conspiracy theory in the future, I'm going to make them read this! It perfectly captures the mindset of someone who sees conspiracies where there are none. If you are congenitally suspicious, you can't help but seeing commie spies hiding in the pantry, and dark malevolence afoot everywhere. Big conspiracies tend not to be successful, because they require at least two people to work together without disagreement. And we all know how well humans do at that.

[Hawk the QM]

A hundred and fifty-five people wanted to go to Charlotte? Really?

It's mindblowing, really it is.....

While I agree with the rest... this part really WAS a conspiracy!

[Graydog]

Conspiracy theory....

This is very funny! Thanks for posting it.

Edited February 9, 2009 by Graydog

[LadyBarbossa]

Honestly!

I beg to differ. Yes, I have heard of US Airways. They do exist. One of those small airline companies.

Sullenberger did what he was trained to do. Being a former Air Force pilot and now working in the airlines industry... he kept his cool for the sake of all those on board. Worked swiftly, too. Styaing on top of things as they developed.

If ye don't believe it was birds... then go look at the damn sky!

One can nitpick all damn day and find every little thing as some conspiracy. Hell, I bet someone is doing that witht those massive, deadly fires in Australia.

Stop being Fox Mulder!

No offense, PEW or any one else. But ... seriously.. come on. Conspiracy Theories... WAY over rated!

~Lady B

[Red Cat Jenny]

My theories...

1) If Wolf Blitzer's feet ever stop moving when he talks, he will fall mute.

2) My favortie black pea coat was designed for maximum lint attraction

3) There are gremilins in my house..or in this Swede's case..Tomten

4) That wasn't the last donut....

[blackjohn]

So were you at work when it all went down? I'm just curious if you were what sort of thoughts were running through your head there in your tower at JFK?

[Red Cat Jenny]

Actually I was off that day John, but I got several calls as it unfolded. My thoughts were that several factors, foremost the Captain and crew played a large part.

1) It was still light out which was a tremendous boon especially had the aircraft partially submerged.

2) The snow had stopped just a short time earlier

Both meant less wind, greater visibility and a smoother surface to the Hudson.

3) It wasn't rush hour yet, allowing rescue vehicles easy access close to the river and ferries empty enough yet to pick up the passengers.

4) As this was a departure, it was fully laden with fuel, which is usually a sight worse than a crash on arrival because of the imminent fire. As they landed in water and the spark in the engines had already extinguished, Lack of fire was a big part in sparing lives and buying time for escape in an orderly fashion.

5) Fully laden makes for a harder landing due to the weight of fuel which is normally spent before landing. Many times a plane which makes an emergency landing dumps fuel because it will collapse the gear or damage the aircraft to land at a fully fueled weight.

However some models of aircraft have no ability built in to dump. Which calls for more rescue equipment.

As dangerous as the water is, it saved them. If a plane manages to land on pavement or ground even with the nose or one main body gear broken or retracted which has happened, the risk is that a wing tip will dip and catch the ground. Result is pulling the aircraft sideways breaking the tank skin or a wing portion breaking off and exposing the fuel, which is in wing tanks to the sparks of the metal and the hot engines.

The devastating crash on the ground of a Singapore 747 became an inferno on impact as they rolled for takeoff on a closed runway and struck construction barriers. That's 57 thousand gallons of Jet A as its a long trip to NY.

The Captain and crew and ya know what? the passenges as well deserve the praise they are recieving. The passengers were incredibly calm and followed directions. They helped each other and the crew and did not clammor over each other. The human factor here was huge. Many times its the abject panic and stampede mentality that cause many fatalities in situations.

I have listened to crash tapes.. those that ended in ultimate disaster and those that didn't and the Captains amaze me. They are calm and deliberate until the last moment sometimes of their lives. They spend every second trying to escape disaster and more often than many know, they do.

So raise a glass to the Cap'n n' crew..but also to the passengers and the good samaritans and the rescue workers.

Also as dumb as many people think the safety briefing is in our too comfortable world, do count seats, do be aware of your surroundings, do keep that seatbelt on, dont hold your child in your lap, and understand what the crew and your fellow passengers may need God forbid anything should ever happen. Many aircraft are built differently many door handles operate differently. There is no safer seat on a plane and in water do NOT open the aft door unless instructed as someone tried to do which would have flooded the aircraft.

There are a great many more emergency landings than the news ever gets a hold of, peole just don't know it. The captains Co Captains and crew keep us quite safe and I have great respect for them.