I am really pleased and happy to see what you have accomplished in this site. As a pilot myself, I think its great and I really appreciate it!
You are very generous and kind for sharing your experience and knowledge with people you don't even know over the Internet.
I would say it's an honor for me to write to an experienced pilot like you. Thanks for allowing us to do that.
I have one question for you.
What do you think of Flight 1549 and Captain Sully who ditched the A320 into the Hudson River?
I just wanted to know it from the point of view of a pilot who flew the A320.
Looking forward to hear from you very soon.
Take care and God bless you!
Captain Faysal
Hi Captain Faysal,
First of all, I would say that Captain Sully did an excellent job of successfully ditching the Airbus A320 onto the river. I take my hat off to him!
It was not a very easy feat considering that he was at such a low altitude - 3000 feet as compared to 30 or 40,000 feet. So he had perhaps less than 2 minutes to do what was necessary to save the lives of all on board the plane. Well, he was able to accomplish that coolly.
Of course, timing and luck also contributed to the success and outcome of the ditching. Normally with 2 engines out he would have lost the hydraulics to select flaps to reduce the speed for the impact. I believe he still had some residual hydraulics left to lower the flaps.
He had the option of turning back or proceed to another airport nearby but at 3000 feet I believe the outcome would have been worst.
What Captain Sully had experienced is a pilot's worst nightmare. My hat off to him again for displaying such great skill in bringing the stricken plane down safely onto the Hudson River. Well done to a hero!
PS. To check for any latest updates or postings, you can follow my new Twitter at @CaptKHLim
