The Ditching of Flight 1549

The ditching of Untied Flight 1549 changed aviation forever. It tested LaGuardia airport's emergency plan while simultaneously testing the Emergency Alert Notification System that the New York and New Jersey area shared. The first responders were from both city's fire and police departments along with some brave civilian ferry boat operators.

They acted quickly so that no lives were lost in the frigid waters and transported all of the passengers and crew to multiple triage centers that were set up in both states.The rescue effort was a success because of the proper plans that were in place along with mutual aid agreements. Planning helped the ditching be successful but sometimes when you have one minute and thirty seconds to make a decision that 155 lives depend on, having a experienced captain and crew are priceless. Brace for impact are the last words one wants to hear while fling along an a aircraft, but that is exactly what flight attendants yelled to passengers aboard a US Airways’ flight in 2009. Whenever someone thinks about an aviation accidents they always seem horrific and have staggering death tolls.But when you stop and think about the fact that there are over 7,000 of planes in the sky United States at any given time carrying hundreds of passengers and crew really aviation is quite statically safe.

(Federal Aviation Administration, 2009) In fact you have a better chance of getting hit by a lighting or drowning then dying in a plane crash. (Britt, 2005) The passengers and crew were given the “brace for impact” command by the plane's captain and corresponding the aircraft accident would forever be known as the “Miracle on the Hudson” or ditching of United Fight 1594.I’m sure you can remember seeing to picture of a plane, with passengers standing on the wings, floating down Hudson River between New York and New Jersey back in 2009 . That day a flock of ingested birds disabled both the Airbus‘s two engines and Captain Chesley Sullenberger and was forced to make daring decision to ditch the plane in the Hudson River.

That decision by Captain Chesley Sullenberger and co-captain saved all 155 people onboard but there were a lot of unsung heroes involved.I’m going to discuss the how proper incident planning and swift actions of rescue personal involved made such daring ditching effort a success. After about two minutes after taking off for LaGuardia Airport (LGA), New York City, New York, US Airways flight 1549 had an in-flight emergency . The aircraft an Airbus A320-214 tail number N106US was at about 2,818 feet when the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) heard the captain yell birds.

According to the NTSB report the captain talked to air traffic controllers on the ground and determined due to loss of thrust that the aircraft had to make an emergency landing at the closest airfield.The closest airfield just happened to be the LaGuardia form which the aircraft had just took off. After some quick calculations and it was determined by the captain and co-captain that the aircraft did not have enough airspeed and altitude to turn around and safely and still make the runway. The crew of Untied Flight 1549 radioed again and asked if there was place available to land in New Jersey. While air traffic controllers looked for another landing alternative it became clear to the crew what their only survivable landing option was.

The captain then radioed air traffic again and told them that “we will be in the Hudson. ” At around 1530 Untied Flight 1549, an Airbus 320 made its landing on the Hudson River. (National Transportation Safety Board, 2009) Before the first bystanders started to call in and report an aircraft in the Hudson River and even before the aircraft itself touched water. An extensive Emergency Alert Notification System was activated by air traffic control using the red crash phone at LaGuardia airport at 15:28pm.

The crash phone caused the FAA tower to activate the crash alarm signaling an aircraft accident and a request for emergency equipment is immediately relayed through a conference circuit to various airport offices, including the airport police, and emergency response agencies, including the USCG, NYPD, Fire Department of New York (FDNY), and emergency medical services (EMS). The NYPD incident logs showed that, upon notification of the accident, a level 3 mobilization, which required a predetermined number of personnel and equipment to respond to an accident or incident, was transmitted to the NYPD, FDNY, EMS, New York Office of Emergency Management (OEM), Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Red Cross. Personnel from the New York Waterway (NY WW), Port Authority of NY and NJ, Weehawken Police Department (WPD), and New Jersey OEM also responded to the accident. (National Transportation Safety Board, 2009, p. 45)In addition to the Emergency Alert Notification System being put in motion by the FAA, several recent terrorist incidents in the United States caused the federal government to mandate a National Incident Management System that required emergency services to use common terminology and command structures.In fact The Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-5 even required all state and local governments must adapt a National Incident Management System in order to be eligible for federal funds.

(Fortney ; Cllausing, 2010) These mandates were in place at the of the incident and helped speed up response times because clear lines of commutation were established along with a systematic command structures. Also the Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue department (NHRFR) had predicted and planned for a large scale rescue on the Hudson River early in 2002.This emergency plan was put to the test in August 2002 with a full scale drill on New York’s waterways to simulate a mass casualty’s accident between an large ferry and another larger vessel. This drill helped determine that the United States Coast Guard would be the lead agency for an emergency response on the Hudson.

(Cranwel, 2009) Once the Coast Guard assumed command of the Hudson incident, the incident commander shut down all vessel traffic on the Hudson and remained in content radio contract with all vessels that were involved in the rescue effort.In addition to the Coast Guard being the lead agency, both New York and New Jersey set up individual command posts. New Jersey set up at the Port Imperial Ferry Terminal, while New York established three incident command posts at Chelsea Pier, the Jacob Javits Center, and the NY WW New York terminal. (National Transportation Safety Board, 2009) I'm going to focus on the New Jersey command post since they are similar and more information was available for the New Jersey side of command.

New Jersey established a Pershing Road command on their side of the Hudson river in the valet parking area of the Arthur’s Landing Restaurant.The command immediately decide to; restrict scene access to emergency responders, set passenger rescue as the utmost priority; responders would coordinate with New York City emergency services in the rescue effort, obtain emergency medical service (EMS) resources for a mass-casualty incident, provide immediate medical attention and a private, secure sheltered area for rescued passengers, account for the survivors, and initiate victim tracking, acquire and manage the flow of more detailed information, and cooperate with investigating agencies such as the National Transportation Safety Board.The New Jersey command post also immediately designated the NY Waterways ferry terminal as its primary victim receiving point for the New Jersey side of the river. (Cranwel, 2009) When someone first thinks of first responders to an aircraft crash or ditching one thinks about ARFF personal or EMS personal.

However the first actual responders to flight 1549 were several NY Waterways ferry captains that recognized an Airbus A320 landing in the Hudson river was an emergency and quickly altered their course to intercept the floating aircraft.Due to the threat of hypothermia rescuers had to work fast. A recent report from The North Atlantic Treaty Organization Research and Technology fund that once initial cold water shock sets in, one can die within 3-5 minutes of exposure. Another report stated that after 10-15 minutes limbs become useless due to the cold making it impossible for one to self rescue themselves.

(National Transportation Safety Board, 2009) Knowing this rescuers immediately started to prioritize victim needs and uploaded the critical stranded passengers standing on the aircrafts wings.In fact "fourteen of the company’s ferryboats rescued 142 of the 155 passengers stranded in the Hudson, after their Airbus A320 was brought down when a flock of Canadian geese was sucked into both engines. " (Gelert, 2009, p. 1) The NY Waterways ferries had arrived in under three minutes to the scene and had beat all fire fighter and police responders by several minutes. The waterway ferries moved an average 28,000 people between New York's and New Jersey's waterways daily and was prepared and trained for water rescues. (Gelert, 2009) They preformed monthly safety drills that brushed up on procedures.

These "drills included deploying the Jason’s Cradle, a tough, plastic, ladder-like net that was an indispensable part of the rescue. " The cradle is very versatile in overboard water rescues, because it can act as a ladder or basket for victims that need assistance exiting the water. All fourteen of the ferries that assisted in the rescue of stranded passengers had this lifesaving net on board that day. The NY Waterway company performs four to five full water rescues per year and also provides frequent assistance to stranded boaters.

In addition to monthly drills, NY Waterway works closely with the Hudson County Urban Area Security Initiative Rapid Deployment Force and New Jersey Transit, and has run tactical drills with the New Jersey State Police. " A few minutes after NY Waterway's ferries started rescuing passengers emergency responders from New York and New Jersey started to show up on the scene. Some of the first NHRFR personal to show up were Squad 1, Squad7, and Engine 5 crews that had hitched a ride aboard the Henry Hudson a NY Waterways' ferry moored at Arthur's Landing.When they arrived at downed Airbus A320 and they promptly reported back to command at Pershing Road that three NY fireboats and three other civilain ferries were rescuing passengers as they speak. More and more rescue boats started to arrive at the scene. "The Henry Hudson was soon joined by more NY Waterways ferries, multiple vessels from FDNY and the New York Police Department (NYPD).

.. NHRFR Marine 1, two U. S. Coast Guard boats, and later New Jersey State Police (NJSP) boats.

" Even two NY Police Department divers were dispatched to the scene and via helicopter. Wilson ; Baker, 2009) Shortly after jumping into the water they rescued one woman who had fallen in the icy Hudson water and was on the verge of hypothermia. (CBS News, 2009) The divers reported that she could barley move her legs due to her prolong exposure to the frigid water. And after the water rescue of another person in the water the drivers preformed sweep of the entire aircraft the conform that no passengers were missed.

Both NY and NJ police and firefighters helped secure the scene only allowing first responders through the perimeter of security.The security was even tested by reporters dressed as doctors and nurses trying to gain access to the triage staging areas. (Shotrell, 2009) The U. S. Coast Guard (USCG), directed the whole rescue operation concluded that passenger rescue was completed shortly after 40 minutes from when the aircraft first touched down into the Hudson.

Just like NY and NJ fire fighters their EMS counter parts responded to the ditching on the Hudson River also. On the New Jersey side Jeff Welz, director of Weehawken Public Safety and municipal emergency management coordinator, arrived on the scene just as the initial reports started to come in from the scene.Welz immediately activated the Hudson County EMS Mutual Aid Plan, that brings in an additional 25 EMS units from around the county area to help deal with a large scale incident such as this. EMS personal quickly decided that the NY Waterway's terminal would be a optimal place for setting up a triage center because of its large spacious faculty and access to both the Hudson river and a two lane road with EMS vehicles could use for transporting victims. Also the terminal is just two miles south of a Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen which has helipad access.On the NY side of the river an EMS staging area was set up in Manhattan.

John Peruggia the chief of Emergency Medical Service for New York Fire Department immediately ordered an additional 35 ambulances with basic lifesaving care onboard to the staging area along with 10 that had advanced medical services onboard. (Wilson & Baker, 2009) New York saw 88 victims of the crash at their Manhattan site, many with mild hypothermia and of the 88 patients seen, 20 were taken to the hospital. Wilson & Baker, 2009) It was truly remarkable that the only serious injuries that were reported were by four passengers and one flight attendant who received two broken legs when the landing gear pushed back up and entered the fuselage under her jump seat. (National Transportation Safety Board, 2009)One might call such a rescue "man helping fellow man" or mutual aid as first introduced by Prince Pyotr Kropotkin over a century ago as a term to describe a behavioral response.

Weissmann, 2009) This is exactly what happened that day of the Hudson a response of people helping people. Airports are required to have mutual aid agreements in place by the FAA. The enormous size of the modern aircraft of today carrying more and more passengers, makes the idea of an airport being able handle a major crash without outside help is unlikely. Or in the case on flight 1549 a river. The way a airport and/or river handles such catastrophic disaster is through mutual aid agreements with local agencies.

Agencies such as local fire departments, medical faculties, emergency medical personal, local law enforcement, military explosive ordinance teams, specialized search and rescue teams are just a few agencies that local airports have in place to handle a disaster. One unique mutual aid agreement that was in place was with The National Ocean Service. Since it was a cold New York day that happened 12 degrees below freezing and the Hudson River water temperature was a chilly 32 degrees, rescuers had to have accurate information about the Hudson River.And to make matters worse swift currents were dragging the downed aircraft south as it was sank so rescue teams acted fast and called on The National Ocean Service to provide Hudson River intelligence. The Data from Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) network sensors within the New York Harbor Observing Prediction System were critical in reducing this response time.

Within minutes of the crash, IOOS partners at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey sent a detailed report of near real-time water conditions surrounding the site and a forecast of conditions for the next 48 hours to the U. S. Coast Guard, the Director of Watch Command for the New York City Office of Emergency Management, and the Emergency Medical Services Command Center, Fire Department of New York. ” (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , 2009, p. 1)The National Oceanic and atmospheric administration also sent a navigation response team 5 (NRT5) to assist looking for wreckage. One cannot talk about the ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 without speaking about courageous pilot who masterfully put an aircraft down in the Hudson river.

Captain Sullenberger has over 40 years of flying experience to his credit. Profile: Chesley Sullenberger, 'hero of the Hudson', 2009) He was an U. S. Air Force F-4 fighter pilot in the 1970's who begin his career with US Airways' in 1980. (A True American Hero, 2009) He has served in instructor pilot, Airline Pilots Association safety chairman and accident investigator to several aircraft crashes and mishaps.One of Sullenburger's neighbors Candace Andersen puts it best when she said, said the right pilot had been in charge at the time of the accident.

"You look at his training, you look at his experience - it was the right pilot at the right time in charge of that plane that saved so many lives. (Profile: Chesley Sullenberger, 'hero of the Hudson', 2009) There are a lot of lessons to be learned from the crash and/or ditching of Untied Flight 1549 just like every time an aircraft goes down. While no one can accurately predict where every bird in the sky will be, so aircraft can avoid them. We can however continue to tract bird migratory patterns to mitigate the risk of collations with aircraft. The emergency responder community can also look at this incident and see what worked such as the Emergency Alert Notification System that put rescue personal on the scene of the incident within minutes.

And when one considers that the aircraft ditching site was contently floating down river it was truly a success. Oh course with the ditching of Flight 1549 we learned that the word ditching is not defined in any federal regulation at all, thus causes different interpretations. I truly agree with the NTSB board members statements that the flight was a forced landing not a ditching which is a planned event (National Transportation Safety Board, 2009) At 2,000 feet and losing altitude rapidly, turning a jet around and maybe gliding over a heavy populated Manhattan was not an option.