Quote:
But tucked inside thousands of pages of testimony and exhibits are hints that, in hindsight, the celebrated pilot could have made it back to La Guardia Airport. Pilots who used simulators to recreate the accident—including suddenly losing both engines after sucking in birds at 2,500 feet—repeatedly managed to safely land their virtual airliners at La Guardia.
Quote:
The results haven't changed the conclusions of National Transportation Safety Board investigators or outside aviation-safety experts, who unanimously agree that Mr. Sullenberger made the right call to put his crippled jet down in the river. Neither he nor his first officer, Jeffrey Skiles, had any assurance that the Airbus A320—which suddenly turned into a 70-ton glider—would be able to clear Manhattan's skyline had they tried to return to the Queens airport they left minutes before.
"The downside risk of being wrong was catastrophic" considering the potential for fatalities to bystanders, according to safety consultant John Cox, an ex-Airbus pilot at the same airline. Mr. Sullenberger "could have made a different call," said Kitty Higgins, a former safety board member, "but his decision used the best information he had . . . and was based on his experience and instincts."
My business partner is an Airbus pilot/instructor. He was able to land at La Guardia. However, Sullenberger made a decision and executed his plan. It worked. Just like the cop did.