The emergency water landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River has people thinking – about airplanes, airlines, flight crews, bird strikes, water landings, evacuations.
Here are a few questions that have come up, with answers from industry and safety experts.
Q: How can a bird disable a jet engine?
A: They can strike and damage turbine and fan blades, blocking air flow and leading to a loss of power – and potentially a fire if an engine overheats. Even a small bird can do great damage when it hits a plane taking off at high speed.
“It damages all of the components (that it strikes) from the back of engine to the front of the engine,” said Gregory Feith, a former senior investigator at the National Transportation Safety Board.
Q: Why don’t jet engines have anti-bird screens?
A: Because a screen stout enough to deflect large birds such as geese hitting the engine of a speeding aircraft would also rob the jet engine of necessary air, experts said.
Mike Overly of the Aviation Safety Institute added that putting a screen or anything else in front of the engine turbines adds a new risk – that parts could break off in flight and be sucked into the engine.
“It would be like traveling with your own flock of geese,” he said.
Q: What steps are taken to avoid bird strikes?
A: Many airports use cannons or other loud noises to scare off birds, and some even employ predators such as falcons.
The Smithsonian, using avian DNA, analyzes the remains of birds that collide with planes to track whether certain species are a growing threat at particular airports. The findings are provided to the Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Q: When a plane goes down, are flight attendants trained to evacuate women and children first? Or do they evacuate based on who’s nearest the exits?
A: Flight attendants are trained to react and make decisions based on the severity of the situation. In case of a fire, those nearest the exits will get out first.
But in a case like the US Airways flight, where there appears to be more time, then children, women or people who need assistance may be evacuated first.
Lonny Glover, national safety coordinator for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said crews at American Airlines, where he works, are trained to let children, the elderly and injured people board inflated slides and rafts first.
If rafts fill up, physically able passengers should be told to hold onto the life lines on the sides, he said.
Q: How well do airplanes float?
The US Airlines Airbus A320 floated for quite some time because pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III landed his crippled jetliner without tearing up the fuselage, and possibly because of a device called a “ditching switch,” which closes valves and ventilation outlets.
“Most ditchings don’t come out this well because the plane breaks up and they tend to sink pretty quickly,” said Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation. He added that planes are built to allow the cabin to be pressured in flight, “so they’ll float pretty well if they’re in one piece.”
Aviation consultant Robert Mann said the ditching switch may have worked this time but the device “is kind of irrelevant” since airplanes rarely survive a water landing intact.
Q: Is there an electrocution danger from being on or around a plane in the water?
Voss and other experts said there is little or no risk because many aircraft electrical systems run on direct current – like the current in batteries – and usually shut down in an emergency.
Q: What should you do when you board a plane to be prepared for an emergency?
Review the emergency briefing card in the seat back, and count the number of rows to exits in front and behind you – if the cabin is dark or fills with smoke you might need to feel your way out.
And if there is an emergency, leave your carry-on luggage behind. Don’t waste precious time or block an aisle to dig your bag out of the overhead bin.
“Which is more important,” said Glover, the flight attendant at American, “your laptop, your suitcase, or your life?”
Q: What kind of liability does US Airways face?
Clearly, much less than if passengers had died.
Still, even passengers who suffered no serious physical injuries could bring claims of post-traumatic stress syndrome, said Alisa Brodkowitz, a Seattle lawyer who has filed claims against airlines in other cases.
Q: Will US Airways compensate passengers on Flight 1549?
US Airways spokesman Derek Hanna declined to say.
When passengers are denied boarding – for instance, if it’s been oversold – on a U.S. flight, the airline’s policy is to give them up to $800 in cash or a voucher for one free round-trip ticket within the continental United States, according to the company’s Web site.
Brodkowitz said airlines often try to assuage passengers with free miles, free trips or even gift certificates to restaurants. Her advice to US Airlines passengers who are offered vouchers: Read the fine print to make sure you’re not signing away your right to pursue a legal claim.
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AP Business Writer Stephen Singer contributed to this report.
