US Air 1549 ATC Audio

[cgarr]

Just got this thru avweb:

http://www.avweb.com/podcast/podcast/AudioPodcast_USAirwaysFlight1549_Audio_199716-1.html

[ramonesfreak]

the calmness is amazing

[svandamme]

i hope they release the cockpit voice too

[stomachmonkey]

Wow.

Pure professionalism on everyones part.

[fingpilot]

Cockpit Voice recordings are never released, sometimes even not to in-company people.

Survivors' wives / husbands (if a fatality) will only be allowed after counselling and consent forms. Having heard one myself (as part of the accident investigation), it will haunt you forever.

Now that that has been said, I have done a lot of production test flying for Gulfstream. Brand new airplanes, first flights, up to approx. 12 or 13th flights depending on how they did, always 'greenies', always offshore, almost always, at some moment, one parameter at a time, some percentage 'outside' the envelope. If the red line was at 100% of something, we ran it to some percent over to make sure it was right. Even had both engines flame out at altitude once. It gets real quiet, and it feels like the nose of the airplane gained 3 tons of dead weight. Couple of seconds of 'f-me', what did I do to deserve this??? , and then hit the checklist. Gliding engine(s) out range from 40000+ feet was 225+ miles, so you turn towards the coast and drift down into the relight envelope. Not that big a deal.

Always 150+ miles offshore if up at altitude. Look at an aviation map of the offshore warning areas east of Savannah, Ga. That was us.

I never worried about doing anything in a Gulfstream by the book. Successful outcome was guaranteed.

What happened in that cockpit that day after departure from La Garbage was what always happens when professionals are at work. Knock em down one at a time as training and recurrency exercises have always demonstrated. If it's something you haven't seen before, ya wing it. These two guys knew what their options were when they shut both mills down (if it didn't happen on it's own). The realization that an off-airport landing was all that was left probably got one or both of them to utter the two most revered words in aviation, and then set about to do just that, land at the most suitable spot around.

They made all of us proud that day.