Anyone who knows me knows I love planes...planes, planes, planes. Not those damn twin propeller small planes that take you nowhere and let every and any cloud throw it around, but 747s and 777s. Planes that you get on and you know that you are going places because they hold a whole hell of alot of jet fuel for a reason. Over the years, I have been on a bunch of flights and not all of them have been smooth but only once on a flight that had taken off from New York City did I feel like things were going wrong. The planes seemed to be struggling through some storm clouds upon take off and the pilot accelerated while we were being thrown around and the plane seemed to be accelerating DOWNWARDS!
All of this makes the US Airways Hudson River crash last month in New York City that more astounding. The landing itself is amazing but what impresses me more is how everyone involved-pilot, air traffic control-calmly does their job and does everything right in split second decisions. There was no time to look things up or weigh options. This little video reproduction of the crash that has been floating around the internet puts into perspective how fragile these huge planes are and how many components must go right at all times. Though my airline of choice (well not my choice but rather my bank checking account chose it for me) is American Airlines I hope that if there are any geese ever planning their suicide in front of my flight (and I have seen those damn birds around JFK, Schiphol and Heathrow) that
- there is a body of water around somewhere, and
- i dont have the "D student" type of pilot controlling the whole operation...
“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it”
~Henry Ford
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