1549 LGA-CLT

Words cannot express how proud I am of the entire crew and the magnificent outcome they created for everybody onboard!
 
For the front-line employees and flight crews of US Airways--especially the East side--this is an intense moment of pride!!

We have had difficult, trying, tumultuous carreers at US Airways--especially lately--but I AM PROUD TO CALL MYSELF A US AIRWAYS FLIGHT ATTENDANT!!

For me 25 years of 2 BK, 5mergers, 4 management teams, "reverse seniority" and working under some very tough circumstances of extended periods of time--For me these things have dedicated my resolve to being the best F/A I can be...and I think most of my colleagues feel the same way..

US flight crews are the BEST in the industry!!!
 
flyJOE said:
I read in another forum the Taca 737 landed on the strip from the top of the pic, towards the right corner of the pic and then was towed along the shorter strip towards the roadway.

Here's the NTSB findings:
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=2...25693&key=1
View attachment 8167
Click to expand...
Joe,
Memory has faded a bit in the last eleven years, so please bear with me. I believe that your description on the actual location of touchdown is correct, and the photo that I've attached shows pretty much the entire distance that it took to bring the aircraft to a stop.

It was really just a normal, rainy, New Orleans day until the voice over the 1MC announced, "Taca 737 with dual engine failure 35 miles south of New Orleans, all pilots lay to Operations." I'm sure that the thoughts that ran through my mind and the minds of my fellow Coasties at that moment were relived in a lot of responders yesterday in New York. One of those thoughts being, I will never be the same after this day, whatever it brings.

I am certain that as they geared up and started rolling and flying toward the scene, there was a small part of their mind trying to imagine just how bad it might actually be. For me, there was no doubt on that day in 1988 that a disasterous scene was in my near future. Given that reality, launching out in the first helo from Belle Chase felt a little different than it normally did.

So we wind our way to the northeast with weather somewhere at or very near our VFR minimums, negotiating a tower farm that stood between us and the scene. With help from ATC, we were heading straight to their last radar return.

Fully prepared (as best as one might think they can be prepared) for what lie ahead, the four of us discussed what our priorites would be upon reaching the scene and how we should respond to what we expected to be a mass casualty situation.

As I said, I have to believe that our thoughts and discussions were reenacted by many responders as they drove, steamed, and flew to the scene on the Hudson yesterday. What were they told? I don't know, but I imagine it was something along the lines of an airliner in the Hudson River. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that images of the Air Florida rescue scene came to many as they closed in on the scene.

Then, in an instance, the utterly unbelievable reality strikes. For me, it was a sight that didn't make sense. Is that really an airliner sitting on it's wheels on the grass? Did someone tow that thing out there in the middle of New Orleans East? It was difficult to reconcile the reality before us. There was no carnage, no tens of thousands of pieces of aircraft, no sights that made us want to look the other way.

In our situation, we had to actually send our corpsman over to the crew, still at the plane, to verify what we were seeing with our own eyes. Yes, thank you very much we're bueno...the NASA folks have already bused our passengers into their building and we're just fine sitting out here. Our biggest challenge was to convince the remaining 4 aircraft from our station that they could return to base. Not a one of them turned around until they got out to the scene and verified for themselves this unlikely outcome.

Of course, while landing on the grass and deplaning via slides is not a normal procedure, it certainly wasn't a rescue operation. Therein lies a big difference. All of the skill and providence that brought the Taca 737 to a contolled return to terra firma were replicated yesterday. But yesterday, in addition to the superb airmanship that was demonstrated, the job was not complete when the aircraft came to a stop.

I wish I could experience the emotions that the rescuers on scene yesterday felt as they jostled and shuffled along these people who had seemingly been stolen from the very hand of a much different fate than they experienced.

So what does one call that emotion that is experienced in such a situation? Is it joy? Relief? Disbelief? Gratitude? I can't label it.

HP/FA mentioned Al Haynes. Yes. In Taca, United, and now with Capt. Sully, we now see lives being saved through effective leadership and superb airmanship. Providence saw to it that there were rescuers available in all three cases, necessary in two of them. In Sioux City, it was an Air Force Reserve unit conducting a mass casualty drill on the airport at the precise time that the DC-10 circled down toward it. In yesterday's case, it was the sheer number and proximity of rescue units, private vessels, and commercial vessels to the aircraft in what would have to be one of the busiest harbors in the world.

So how do we ever stop saying and posting our perceptions? We don't want to stop. Because we realize the thin margin that separates the actual outcome from other potential outcomes. We can't stop saying that this is a miracle. We can't stop saying how well everyone did their jobs. We can't stop saying that the passengers actually contributed to their and each others' survival by remaining calm (I guess that's a relative term). We can't stop saying how much we respect those who closed in on this floating potential powderkeg without consideration for their own safety. We want to tell each other over and over again that the best in people was visible yesterday.

It's a day for everyone in this industry to be proud. I know I am.
 

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There was a group gathered in my office yesterday afternoon to watch the live coverage. This was immediately after the news broke, and prior to the alleged belief that everybody made it out alive. When the reporter stated that they believed that everybody got out of the plane, we all cheered! It was actually the first time in a long time that I was proud of my association with US.

My praise and gratitude goes out to all of the US Airways employees who acted heroically, both at the scene and behind the scenes, to make this Miracle On The Hudson happen. US Airways deserves a tremendous amount of credit for the way it handled what could very well have been a terrible tragedy.
 
To PB and the other FF's, VFF's and former customers:

As a US Airways 25 year, veteran flight attendent I can say; THIS IS WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO.

And from a safety-professional aspect(which is the one that REALLY matters)--US Airways Flight Crews are THE BEST in the industry!!!

I am very proud of my CLT-based colleagues and I'm proud to be a US Airways flight attendant.

I suspect it is years of training and handling adverse working conditions for long periods of time that have made US crews the experienced, dedicated safety-professionals we are.......
 
Does US have any airplanes on reserve to take up the slack of this aircraft?

Also, is this aircraft toast? Or can the aircraft be saved and put back in service?

Being in the water I would think that the entire aircraft would have to be rewired and totally redone. Not sure how much damage was done to the hull from the impact of the water.
 
On CNN.com there is a drawing of the flight path superimposed on a photograph of NYC. My first thought on seeing it was "I can not imagine the loss of life if the pilot had not been able to get that a/c to the river." They were flying over some of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the U.S.

Flight Path drawing--click here
 
Over and over, I just can't thank God enough for yesterday's outcome, the efforts on the flight deck, the cabin crew, the passengers that remainded calm & orderly, the marine crews, and other first responders.

I've been gone from US almost 10 years now. I worked for US for 6 years, as well as was an AL/US brat. We all dealt with the 5 in 5 years into the early 90s and the questions if we would make it. The last several years have been tough to watch and now living in CLT always hearing of the criticisms constantly, many deservedly so. However today I am very proud to speak of my US heritage and SO PROUD of Captain Sully and crew. Thank you!
 
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