Dirkmonster

Training takes emotion out of dealing with a crisis

I asked my cousin, a missionary pilot in Cameroon, about the Miracle on the Hudson landing by a USAirways pilot last month.  He stressed that training is the key to responding to crisis situations such as the one Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger faced in January.

I was very impressed with the way the pilot handled the water ditching.  It is not easy to ditch a large airplane without tearing the airplane apart. Landing on water at those speeds is probably about the same as landing on an asphalt runway.  The critical thing about landing any airplane without power is that the pilot keep the speed up so that controllability can be maintained.  As long as the pilot stays in control all the way to the ground the risk of damage/injury goes down significantly.  It is when the airplane stalls or approaches much to steep that serious damage occurs.  I suspect that as soon as the pilot realized his engines were gone, he automatically began responding to the emergency with very little emotional involvement.

We spend most of our recurrent training preparing for emergencies, and I suspect that the airlines do even more preparation than we do.  The one time I had an emergency situation, I reacted immediately within the guidelines of our emergency procedures.  It was not until it was all over that emotions came into play.  It is amazing what good training can do for you in a crisis.

It seems to me that this model could be applied to many crises, not only ones that occur when you're less than 1,000 feet above the George Washington bridge in NYC.  I need to remember my training and experience when things come up at work rather than reacting emotionally.  In my case it probably won't save lives but it's still more likely to produce a good outcome.

Remembering the Air Florida Flight 90 river crash

Today's US Airways crash into the Hudson river alongside Manhattan was a miracle in that all the passengers survived.  It brought to memory another airliner that crashed into the Potomac river in Washington DC 27 years ago - almost to the day.

In that tragedy, Air Florida Flight 90 barely made it off the end of the runway at Washington's National Airport (Now Reagan National Airport - Reagan was President at the time of the crash).  The 737 stalled and hit Washington's 14th St. Bridge before crashing into the icy Potomac river.  Seventy-eight people died, including some hit by the airplane while in their cars on the bridge.  This is the story of that tragic crash with the dramatic rescue video similar to today's (about 17 minutes into the program).

There are startling contrasts and similarities between the two incidents.

• The Air Florida Flight 90 crash happened on January 13, 1982.  The US Airways crash came 27 years and two days later.
• Bridges played a part in both stories.
  • 1982: The aircraft struck the 14th Street Bridge...It crushed seven occupied vehicles on the bridge before it plunged through the ice into the Potomac River.
  • 2009: Air traffic controllers at LaGuardia saw the plane clear the George Washington Bridge by less than 900 feet before gliding into the water about 3:31 p.m., an aviation source told CNN.
• In the Air Florida crash, the pilot was blamed for poor judgment - that resulted in great loss of life.  The pilot of US Airways flight is being hailed as a hero for skillfully using his judgment - judgment that led to the survival of every single passenger and crew member. He was reportedly the last one to leave the airplane.
• In both instances the crash victims were exposed to frigid river waters.  And in both instances quick action by rescuers saved lives.  It says so much about human nature that in the face of calamity, people can mobilize instantly to make the impossible a reality.
  • 1982: Priscilla Tirado was too weak to grab the line when the helicopter dropped the line to her again. A watching bystander, Congressional Budget Office assistant Lenny Skutnik, stripped off his coat and boots, and in short sleeves, dove into the icy water, and swam out to assist her. The helicopter then proceeded to where Patricia Felch had fallen and paramedic Gene Windsor dropped from the safety of the helicopter into the water to attach a line to her.
  • 2009: President Bush commended those involved in the rescue. "Laura and I are inspired by the skill and heroism of the flight crew as well as the dedication and selflessness of the emergency responders and volunteers who rescued passengers from the icy waters of the Hudson," he said.  NYC Mayor Bloomberg also commended the pilot for not leaving the plane until he had checked to make sure everyone had been been evacuated. "It would appear that the pilot did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river and then making sure that everybody got out," Bloomberg said.  "I had a long conversation with the pilot," Bloomberg said. "He walked the plane twice after everybody else was off, and tried to verify that there was nobody else on board, and assures us there were not."
• In both instances environmental factors (ice back then and birds today) caused the airplane to never have a chance at sustained flight.

I was in Junior High School in Arlington, VA at the time and remember watching the stunning video on television.  Today I'm 41 and had the same feeling.  But this time it was not just stunning, it was miraculous. Each and every one of the crash victims survived.  Yay God!

I borrowed text from Wikipedia and CNN.com for parts of this post.