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Old Jan 21, 2013 | 8:39 am
  #151  
SpurMan
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Originally Posted by HarryHolden68

So, having become a hero for what was probably the most successful ditching in aviation history, did Captain Sullenburger make the biggest judgement error of his life by not immediately turning the aircraft around?
Far from it. His procedures did not allow for him to make an immediate turnaround. The QRH procedure was to try to restart the engines, with a procedure that was meant for 30000 feet not 3000, and an airspeed of approximately 250 knots, which was never obtained. This meant that a turnaround was not possible, as going by the book made it too late to attempt. In fact Sully did something that was not in the procedures which was a masterstoke. He started the APU when the engines went off. This meant he had help in making the descent and ditching, as the computers on the 320 were still able to help him maintain the perfect attitude and not stall. The NTSB said that that decision probably saved the lives of those on board, plus the superb airmanship of landing on the Hudson.

As previously stated, when the NTSB stuck in a 30 delay, all simulations tried crashed. Even with no delay, 50% crashed before the runway. Damn fine flying IMHO.
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