Security Camera Catches US Airways plane ditches in Hudson River

[Ichingcarpenter]

Run time: 10:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiIZUF6oN-A   Posted on YouTube: January 17, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: January 17, 2009 By DU Member: Ichingcarpenter Views on DU: 4867

 
The plane lands around the 2:00 mark, it looks small in the river as it enters from
the left of the screen. ............edited.......... You can see how fast they got the people out of the plane
which I find amazing in real time

[trthnd4jstc]

1. That was a miracle. I am so glad that the pilot, the universe, G-d, whatever: Everyone Lived!

[Atman]

3. No, it was not a "miracle"

Unless you're willing to believe God was just tucking with everyone by throwing them in the river in the first place, just so he could "miraculously" save them.

[Duppers]

15. miracle does not always have to mean god

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/miracle

but if the folks in this thread mean miracle in the 'god' sense, then this old atheist disagrees with them and wholeheartedly agrees with you.

:hi:

[TheEuclideanOne]

18. Are you suggesting that God is suffering from Münchausen syndrome by proxy?

Just curious.

On a related note, I have read through alot of the posts here and find it so strange that the most important point to discuss is whether this was a miracle or not. Really? Is that the most important aspect of this story? Obviously not, but I can see how these things get started. People are very literal here, myslelf included, and sometimes the words that are used become more important than the story itself. Regardless, they do lead to some interesting conversations, like.... "What is a miracle?"

[minnesota_liberal]

30. Webster's would disagree

My first response was similar to yours, but one definition fits quite well: "An extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment."

The altitude gained before engine failure, training and skill of pilots and flight attendants, proximity to the river and availability of boats combined to produce this outcome.

[gristy]

2. A guy was going way out on the right wing when he saw how they needed more room

as more people were coming out of the plane, and he fell in! The guy behind him quickly helped him out of the water and back onto the wing. :)

[HughMoran]

10. I saw that

Good thing the other person was able to pull the person out quickly - that water is COLD!

Amazing video & amazing that everybody survived.

[aviationpm]

4. Since when did physics become miraculous?

The pilot headed for water because he knew that's where his chances are best. Aircraft are equipped for water landings for a reason... because they are survivable. Credit should go to the pilots and crew, not a miracle.

[tinrobot]

9. Get over it.

The word miracle has many definitions.

mir⋅a⋅cle

1. an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.
2. such an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God.
3. a wonder; marvel.
4. a wonderful or surpassing example of some quality: a miracle of modern acoustics.


I think numbers three and four apply here - I'm certainly marveling at the pilot's skill and the quality of the landing.

[Grinchie]

13. Yeah, It's a Miracle that Israel gets away with murder too.

Sorry, but this overblown cause celebre is a smokescreen and borders on hero worship by the masses, fanned by a media that doesn't want to look at the real news.

The Pilot was skilled, no doubt. That's his job, his profession, his specialty.

Miracles are something that desperate people conjure up to explain amazing luck and unexplained events. Just like a Total eclipse was considered a miracle before people understood it.

I'm sure that a wild dog thinks a gun going of if pretty miraculous too, but it is no miracle.

[DUlover2909]

17. Come on. This is cause for celebration. Why be a downer?

We all know that what's happening in Gaza sucks ass. We all know the mainstream media isn't doing its job. Every one of those people walked away with no injuries, and best of all, no death. If you were about to crash land I guarantee you would be expecting to die. Those people dodged a huge bullet. We don't have much these days to be happy about. Stop over analyzing everything.

[Divine Discontent]

27. so negative. take joy or happiness or whatever you want to call it so you don't go off on an

anti-religious rant, in the fact that these people survived something that isn't very common to survive - a plane crash.

It's a great thing.

[cboy4]

32. Yea, it's a miracle there are also so fricken many

apologists for militant a-holes.

Considering your Hamas group is getting its asses handed to them for rocketing innocent civilians, you'd think you'd take any good news you can get right about now.

But your comments are a perfect example of how delusional you are, casually using any event and to be frank, any excuse to justify your side. :thumbsdown:

[1monster]

11. What is a miracle? Sometimes, everything working just the way it should is a miracle.

The truth is the people on that plane lucked out in a miraculous way.

One: The plane they were on had a "ditch" switch which sealed the lower portion of the plane so that when it hit the water, they were not immediately waterlogged.

Two: The people cooperated and got out of the plane quickly (90 seconds is the estimate for how long it took for everyone to get out).

Three: The passengers were being picked up from the plane in less than five minutes by water taxis, sightseeing vehicles, and tugboats.

Four: The pilot is a glider instructor. Who better to have in control of a plane that has just lost both of its engines? (That may have been the most important miracle!)

When everything comes together in such a perfect way, without any preplanning at all, it is not hyperbolic to call it a miracle and it is not in any way taking credit from the pilots and crew.

[TheEuclideanOne]

19. If I can quote the great George Carlin....

Well, what exactly is a water landing? Am I mistaken, or does this sound somewhat similar to CRASHING INTO THE OCEAN!? ". . . your seat cushion can be used as a floatation device." Well, imagine that, my seat cushion... Just what I need -- to float around the North Atlantic for several days -- clinging to a pillow full of beer farts...

Regardless of the laws of physics and how well airplanes are equipped for water landings, when was the last time that you heard a story of a water landing where everybody survived?

[hedgehog]

5. I'm amazed - the notion of a plane landing in the middle of the Hudson is so bizarre

that I can't believe the boat captains were able to respond so quickly! How did they realize what they were seeing?

[JHB]

42. The landing/crash area was right in between two big ferry terminals...

...at Port Imperial (Jersey side) and 39th St. (Manhattan). And those docks in the foreground at the start looks to be Lincoln Harbor (another ferry stop) or the dockyard near it, and at least one ferry came from that direction.

Also when the NY Waterway ferries load and unload, they don't even tie up; the rev the engines to press the boat securely against the passenger dock. So once a call was radioed in to render assisatnce, they could have unloaded any passengers they had and got moving in a matter of seconds. And at that time of day, they'd be gearing up for the afternoon rush, so there may have been some unloaded ferries ready to go right away.

So on top of coming down in one piece, they lucked out in the time and place where they hit: you couldn't have asked for a place that was better prepared to help them out right away.

[ananda]

6. Doesn't it seem that the country is working better..

.. now that Bush is out and a new
energy is here?

[lebkuchen]

7. that doesn't look like 150 outside the plane

Did some hover in the cabin as there seemed to be no room on the wings?

[NJCher]

8. miracles

from reading a few posts on this thread, it sounds like some people object to calling this a miracle. I have heard similar opinions expressed elsewhere on the internet and through interviews with people on the radio.

Just consider this: that after eight years of bush et al, a competent person, Sullenberger, seems like a miracle.



Cher

[greyl]

14. God is offended when humans see other humans being competent,

and call it a miracle.

[Politicalboi]

12. It's nice to see others

Helping others and they are very lucky to be alive. That plane could have cracked like an egg when it hit the water. It's amazing that the port has better video than the Pentagon. Still waiting for the 9/11 video of that.

[DUlover2909]

16. Wow. Amazing teamwork. Great job everyone!

:toast:

[file83]

20. Why can't people get off planes that quickly when I am on one?

:rofl: I guess it helps when they have a little "motivation"!!

[Celebration]

23. no stopping to get stuff from the overhead bin n/t

[cboy4]

31. ......

:spray:

HILARIOUS

[FlaGranny]

21. Credit to that ferry boat captain.

He did a superb job of getting to that plane so fast and stopping so close to it and then drifting with it. His timing was perfect.

[Guaranteed]

37. Yup.

EVERYTHING was done perfectly in that situation.

It's incredible.

[RJ Connors]

22. Wow, that is really cool. n/t

[rtassi]

24. Nice piece of work by all ....

no matter what you prefer to call it!

[onlyadream]

25. Rivetting Video!

I'm interested in the details, like how did they get onto the wings from the door? On the wings, did the wings sag, were they standing in water? How did the boats get to the wings and not bump into them (knocking people off)?
It just seems like so many things went right...that's the miracle.

[localroger]

35. Details

1. The doors open onto the top of the wings.
2. The wings are designed to hold up a 300,000 pound airplane. They laugh at 15,000 pounds of people. They went under water only because the whole plane to which they were attached was slowly sinking.
3. According to survivors many were knee to waist deep in water before being rescued.
4. Those ferry captains are used to docking quickly and accurately under all kinds of conditions. They are very, very good, and the weather was clear and calm for them.

[islandmkl]

26. i don't know what a 'miracle' is...

but crash-landing a LARGE jet airplane into a body of water, not having a wing (let alone both) torn off, not suffering massive fuselage damage, AND not sinking...while the passengers are ABLE to line up, in a somewhat orderly fashion, ON THE WINGS WHICH ARE BARELY BELOW WATER, while the rescue boats are IMMEDIATELY at hand...

well, i don't know what a miracle is...

[Divine Discontent]

29. great reply! everything going right after something bad happens, when you need everything

to go right so no one dies out of over 100 people being involved in a crash - and everything does go right - and no one dies - well, sounds pretty miraculous to me! Yes, great skill is involved, and a sense of service and duty - but everything working out after the engines blew, that's pretty miraculous sounding.

I'm sure they're thankful they lived. God works in mysterious ways, and for these people, they're not going to question it too much! It's inspiring.

[Guaranteed]

38. Hear hear.

Sometimes things are just....good.

:hug:

[Eurobabe]

28. Absolutely amazing, the plane is literally floating down the Hudson!!

OMFG, what those people must have been thinking.

Capt. Sullenberger is a TRUE HERO. :loveya: :loveya: :patriot:

[truth2power]

33. How come that security camera was able

to zoom in and out like that?

Those cameras are running on auto. Did someone take over the camera and keep it focused on the action? Just wondering...

[cboy4]

34. I'm not sure, but that looks like it's a "manned" Coast

Guard camera trained on the water .. keeping an eye out for any vessel in distress.

So while I'm not positive, I don't think "those cameras are running on auto."

Someone is there keeping watch for trouble .. which is why there was such a wide view of the area.

[localroger]

36. Fairly standard capability

The cameras can be remote controlled. I've seen many installations that have this capability even if they normally keep the cameras zoomed out and recording for general security purposes. It seems likely that the human who zoomed in was alerted through some other channel and went to the camera expecting to find the plane, rather than noticing it on the camera feed itself.

[LeftyMom]

41. Really standard these days.

Even a lot of retail shops have the capability, if not always a person manning the system.

[Poll_Blind]

39. Thanks Ichingcarpenter for posting this! WQW!

PB

[FourScore]

40. WOW! Thanks so much for posting this. n/t