4 ms·

I'm not a pilot but if you replace the water with the runway you've got what seems like a perfect landing. Any HN'ers with aviation experience care to comment

by jayair 18y ago

I'm not a pilot but if you replace the water with the runway you've got what seems like a perfect landing. Any HN'ers with aviation experience care to comment?

noonespecial 18y ago
Water is much harder. The drag as soon as you touch is incredible so the deceleration is nearly instant. He had to know to keep the gear up, the flaps not extended and touch at the perfect angle. Even then, there is a large element of chance. Most water ditchings end with the plane catching a surface in the water, cartwheeling and then breaking apart. Its hard enough to land planes that are designed with floats on the water. This was the perfect combination of luck and much skill, like an NBA player getting that buzzer shot from 3/4 court to win the game.
- mhb 18y ago
  It was an incredible feat, but I don't think that knowing to keep the gear up when landing on water is particularly remarkable.
  - jerf 18y ago
    noonespecial is not talking about landing gear, he's probably talking about things like this: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/48376/plane_crashes_on_water/ http://www.metacafe.com/watch/48376/plane_crashes_on_water/
    - noonespecial 18y ago
      Good find. I was actually looking for that to illustrate the fate of most aircraft that attempt to ditch in water. And yes, I should have been more clear, "gear" would include landing gear (duh), engines, flaps, elevators, or anything else that might "snag" on contact with the water and cause this sort of outcome. The larger the aircraft, the harder it is to prevent this. There is a water landing emergency checklist that usually includes retracting the wheels, pulling in the flaps, etc but the angle and levelness of contact here was all art. Very cool to watch. I'm glad there were some security cameras that caught the actual landing.
    - ckinnan 18y ago
      That's a wreck in Ethopia where the hijacker grabbed the controls at the last moment before ditching and crashed the plane.
      - jerf 18y ago
        I know, but it's a nice visual demonstration of how quickly things can go south in a water landing. Dip something into the water and it's just all over.

by jayair 18y ago

I'm not a pilot but if you replace the water with the runway you've got what seems like a perfect landing. Any HN'ers with aviation experience care to comment?

noonespecial 18y ago

Water is much harder. The drag as soon as you touch is incredible so the deceleration is nearly instant. He had to know to keep the gear up, the flaps not extended and touch at the perfect angle. Even then, there is a large element of chance. Most water ditchings end with the plane catching a surface in the water, cartwheeling and then breaking apart. Its hard enough to land planes that are designed with floats on the water. This was the perfect combination of luck and much skill, like an NBA player getting that buzzer shot from 3/4 court to win the game.

mhb 18y ago
It was an incredible feat, but I don't think that knowing to keep the gear up when landing on water is particularly remarkable.
- jerf 18y ago
  noonespecial is not talking about landing gear, he's probably talking about things like this: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/48376/plane_crashes_on_water/ http://www.metacafe.com/watch/48376/plane_crashes_on_water/
  - noonespecial 18y ago
    Good find. I was actually looking for that to illustrate the fate of most aircraft that attempt to ditch in water. And yes, I should have been more clear, "gear" would include landing gear (duh), engines, flaps, elevators, or anything else that might "snag" on contact with the water and cause this sort of outcome. The larger the aircraft, the harder it is to prevent this. There is a water landing emergency checklist that usually includes retracting the wheels, pulling in the flaps, etc but the angle and levelness of contact here was all art. Very cool to watch. I'm glad there were some security cameras that caught the actual landing.
  - ckinnan 18y ago
    That's a wreck in Ethopia where the hijacker grabbed the controls at the last moment before ditching and crashed the plane.
    - jerf 18y ago
      I know, but it's a nice visual demonstration of how quickly things can go south in a water landing. Dip something into the water and it's just all over.