ShaneG wrote on Feb 5^th, 2009 at 3:11pm:



I would be more interested in hearing the cockpit voice recorder than an air traffic controller who seems not to listen to what the pilot is telling him. How often did he offer runways when the only answer he got was that they where going into the Hudson, even when radar contract was lost. Which did not seem to bother him. Radar contact lost over a huge city by a not so small aircraft, not even an open call to any other aircraft on that frequency to see if they could see a crash site or an aircraft in the water. If you listen to the same thing with TWA 800, the controller is talking to anyone who can see what is/was going on.

Matt

You can be sure that at some point there were others in the tower and at the NY TRACON putting out an alert. I believe the NYPD was on the case almost immediately, with their river patrol units aoordinating rescue with water taxis, and ferries. They may have initiated that on their own, though... a plane landing on the Hudson on a weekday is going to get noticed. The 911 switchboards must have overheated!!

But yes, it's almost as if the captain's calm but terse announcements made it seem less of an emergency (to the controller).  The second guy (supervisor?) can't believe his ears at first, either...loss of both engines so soon after takeoff is a very, very unsual event...maybe  the realityof it takes a few moments to sink in, despite the training.

I had to laugh when he did his best to coordinate with KTEB tower and offered him 01 when he was heading SW over the bridge at about 2000 ft! Great effort, but... ain't no way a heavy could glide south of the airport then turn to land on 01 from that point, and the captain figured that out right away.
He probably couldn't have even made 24 there, even with the wind out of the SW (which it wasn't). I've flown light singles over that bridge a number of times, and I doubt I could do it in one of those, either (although I could maybe make it onto KTEB property, at least, from 2000-2500).

But at any rate, the system did not really break down- everyone tried their best, by the book, but there was very little time to assess the situation and coordinate a plan. That's why a good skipper in a plane like that is worth having. Very sound decision-making in addition to his good flying skills.