Thursday, February 05, 2009

FAA releases ATC audio related to the US Airways Flight 1549 accident

FAA logoThis morning the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released eight ATC audio recordings related to the ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in New York on January 15, 2009. All of the recordings and related transcripts are available for download from the FAA website:


All of the audio recordings are MP3 files, but be warned that some file sizes are rather large, and since they are unedited, some have a long run time (more than 40 min). The transcripts are PDF files.

Communications between the flight crew of 'Cactus 1549' and ATC are on the New York TRACON audio. Other audio files provide insight into what was going on and being said on the ground at LaGuardia and Teterboro during the emergency.

The Class Bravo Airspace Position audio records conversations between ATC and some helicopter pilots who saw the A320 splash down in the Hudson. They reported its position abeam of the USS Intrepid, and that the aircraft was afloat and rafts were being deployed.

On the Cab Coordinator Position audio, you can hear someone from the Port Authority say, "we got survivors, we got survivors, alright they're picking 'em up," and then, "there are numerous survivors... the plane's still afloat."

As we know now, all 155 souls on board US Airways Flight 1549 did indeed survive.

RELATED: Click here to view all posts about US Airways Flt 1549 on Aircrew Buzz.
Posted by B. N. Sullivan at 12:30
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1 comments:

  1. Some of my following commentary with respect to the actual numbers (speed, headings, altitude) may not be correct and need revision. I'm not a pilot though have flown gliders accompanied by instructors. Comments very welcome. --Rob Lingelbach

    --
    when I was a kid in NYC, I used to retune AM radios by bending the coils so that I could hear air traffic control frequencies, and I had a map on the wall of the NYC area with pins in it so I could track the flights into and out of Idylwild, Teterboro, and LaGuardia. Also I regularly listened to air frequencies in LA. and I still have programmed into my handheld here all the various freqs for: tower weather [information Alpha-Zulu], ground, tower, approach/departure and en route (TRACON) frequencies for LA- there are around 20 of them. Also, I used to enjoy listening to long-haul oceanic HF communications between aircraft, controllers, and the company operations "back home."

    so:

    the exchanges between Sullenberger and the controllers were really interesting. some things not mentioned in news articles were: he was also offered Newark; articles stated the pilot didn't know the name of the airport in Jersey he was considering (Teterboro), but he did mention it by name before the controller did. Also not mentioned in any articles I read was that the tower at Teterboro doubted he'd have enough runway there for the A320.

    No articles I read mentioned this: Looking at the detailed map of the times and locations of the events, one can calculate that he just might have made it back to LaGuardia- he had the altitude and the distance was shorter than his eventual ditching spot; however, his turn would have been about 180 degrees, and without power, a turn of that magnitude causes loss of altitude which he couldn't afford and might have caused him not to make LaG. The turn he had to make for the Hudson was only about 90 degrees. (*see below about also losing airspeed in turning from west to east) Also not mentioned: flight path while descending without power was just east of the river: why? he had to be absolutely sure to clear the GW bridge. You can see he eventually makes a slight turn to the right and then left to line up with the center of the river _south_ of the GW bridge. Also, he is stated as wanting to land near boats, but not mentioned was that he also had to be sure not to hit any boats. ...and, what was the length of the landing in water- was the deceleration much greater than a landing on a runway or other land?

    Engine fires: at what point were they extinguished? did the pilot choose the Hudson also because he was loaded with fuel and any mishap with landing on a runway would have potential serious consequences of fire?

    from 4000 feet where he lost power, at around 240 mph ground speed, he would still have been gaining altitude (I'm pretty sure he didn't level off until he had maximum altitude, and that would have been at around 5000 feet); he was flying west, so his airspeed was probably higher than 240 mph because of prevailing westerly winds so he did get some more lift --not mentioned in articles, and also, if he tried to return to LaG, he would have lost more airspeed due to being downwind on final approach (unless there were no wind at all, which is unlikely). All these calculations he would have had to make while the copilot is going through the engine restart procedure.
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