US Airways plane landed in Hudson River is piloted by USAFA Grad

[aggie83]

The article link below says the US Airways plane that had to do an emergency landing in the Hudson River today in New York was piloted by an USAFA grad.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28678669/

[NChopeful]

Well hey! "USAFA appointee loses a tire on landing" haha. Yesterday i was flying with an instructor (but not my primary) and doing my first night flying. it wasn't in the same plane that i'm used to, a bit older, but still a Cessna 172. We started around 4:30, flew around to a couple of airports before the sun went down, then flew over to my local airport. By this time it was definitely night, so full lights, etc.. set up for the landing nice, but took my downwind a little long. No worries, i was high in the VASI by the time i was on final, but with full flaps I started slowing quick, altitude going down about 500 ft/min. i landed in the 1st 200 ft of the runway a bit hard in the back of the powercurve, and then applied some brake. my right wheel was wobbling, and bad, we slowed to about 30 kts and started spinning on the runway because the tire had come off the rim. shoot, we called the FBO, and they sent an emergency vehicle out (No help) we tried pushing it but it just kept turning right. so we sent the E-Vehicle out to get a dolly or something to but under the tire. then we saw a plane coming in, the opposite direction we landed, and he was HIGH and fast, meaning he would have landed ON US. we turned the strobes on and got on the radio to call him off

[NChopeful]

(sorry) he got to 100 AGL right above us and went for a go around. he ended up landing on the other end with plenty of room to spare, we got a terrrible dolly under the tire and pulled the plane to the taxiway. and closed that taxiway off. A great night, might I say! the best part: i got to ride in the fire truck back to the FBO!

[texan101]

man that pilot's legit, he saved everybody. and he was from usafa? well i guess that shows that usafa produces the best pilots

[hornetguy]

Originally Posted by texan101

man that pilot's legit, he saved everybody. and he was from usafa? well i guess that shows that usafa produces the best pilots

Before it happens, no one answer this goad! PLEASE, for the sake of this thread, DO NOT!!! We've had plenty of threads hijacked for AF vs ROTC vs OTS vs Navy for pilot. We will leave it as a friendly goad! OK?

[flyersboy114]

Dude this pilot was amazing!! I can't believe they survived

[jamzmom]

The experience & training of the pilot were a true blessing to the 150 people aboard that flight today. Thankful for these guys.

[jscam87]

I'm type rated in the Airbus 320. Wait until the rest of the story comes out. What he did was even tougher than it sounds. And then he walked through the plane twice (while it was sinking) to make sure he left nobody behind. I'm thinking a lot of people are happy it was a Grad up front.
Hope the kids reading this get an inkling of what it means to be on the Varsity team, or why the SA's are so tough...

[HNeedle]

from alll the maps i've seen of it's path, he kept it up long as he could. maybe he learned how to fly gliders here :)

hahaha nah i dont think they had that way back then. but the stuff you learn here may come in handy some day

[13ryan13]

Wow, I can't believe this happened. My dad is a commercial pilot and said that water landings never have full survival rates. This is amazing that the pilot was able to save everybody, and it makes me appreciate everything we will have to endure at the Academy that much more....