U.S. Airways Crash – Brace for Impact
U.S. Airways Crash – Brace for Impact
Hearing a pilot say, "Folks, we have a problem," is very surreal.
Watching the news coverage of U.S. Airways flight 1549, reminds me of a somewhat similar incident that happened to me on a U.S. Airways flight. There are two common elements to flight 1549 and my flight, 861, 1.) Both U.S. Airways flights had fluke mechanical problems, and 2.) Well-trained pilots safely landed each of our planes.
It was a late February flight, U.S. Airways #861 from Charlotte, North Carolina to Birmingham, Alabama. I was returning home to Birmingham from a business trip, and what seemed to be an uneventful flight changed quickly. When a pilot comes over the public address system and says, “Folks, we have a problem,” that’s when this flight became very surreal.
At the time, I considered myself a seasoned airline traveler, and had often thought about crash scenarios, and what my reaction would be – fight or flight. One thing’s for certain, I never imagined my life ending due to a plane crash.
Somewhere in the skies over Chattanooga, flight 861 went through a tremendous thunderstorm. When the lightening bolt hit our plane, I knew immediately that something was wrong. We went into a holding pattern, and the majority of passengers continued unaware of our situation – reading books, listening to music, napping, etc.
Planes are designed to absorb lightening strikes, with the electricity being transferred around the frame of the jet’s body. However, this particular double lightening strike knocked out the airplane’s landing gear. I recall seeing the looks on the flight attendant’s faces as they paced the isles, and still, most of the passengers were unaware of the issue.
“Folks, we have a problem.” The pilot just told everyone what I had been thinking to myself for the past 15 minutes. Hearing this is one thing, but coming from a pilot, in an airplane, 25,000 feet in the air, makes your heart and mind race.
Fight or flight. The flight attendants immediately began moving passengers from the emergency rows, including a team of female gymnasts from North Carolina State University. While certainly not a hero by any means, I requested to sit next to the emergency door to assist passengers in a worst-case scenario. (While a PR professional, I have always had a deep desire to be a fire fighter).
I can only imagine the passengers of flight 1549 when pilot Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger said, “Brace for impact.” Lady luck was watching both flight 1549, and my flight, 861 (though confident and experienced pilots played a major role in both cases).
Our pilot explained that the lightening strike knocked out the plane’s hydraulics, thus preventing our landing gear from operating. The crew tried, unsuccessfully, to manually lower the landing gear.
“Brace for impact.” If you’ve ever watched a movie scene of a plane crash (ABC’s television series Lost, or the Tom Hanks hit, Cast Away), that is exactly what the experience is like. When our plane hit the ground, not touched-down, it hit the ground at 140 miles per hour. It was jarring. Storage bins opened, luggage was falling, the cabin went dark, oxygen masks and panels fell from the ceiling, and the screams were deafening.
Fight or flight. My fingers were dug into the seat in front of me, and I remember in amazement how much the seat was swaying back and forth, at least a foot in each direction. It seemed like we slid down the runway for 20 minutes, then finally slid off the runway. I recall looking out the mud-stained window, and seeing another movie scene, airport fire crew wearing heat resistant suits walking toward the plane.
You could feel a collectively sigh of relief and joy come over the 92 passengers on-board. After about an hour, we managed getting off the plane. As I walked down the isle, a tired looking pilot was standing near the cockpit, covered in mud. The front landing gear had actually come through the bottom of the plane, and was inside the cockpit, along with about 2-feet of mud.
As I look back, I think that it could have been so much worse. Luck? Coincidence? Fate? Our plane was a Fokker 100, with tail-mounted engines. I imagine our landing would be much different if I was on a different type of plane – one with wing-mounted engines, sitting on tens of thousands of gallons of fuel.
Now, I’m not afraid of flying, just landing.
Enjoy each and every day to its fullest.