its probably one of those once in a lifetime coincidences......... so basically they play the odds, rather then try to prevent the birds from getting in.
Don't know to tell the truth. He said something that if the airplane is going over 200 MPH and hits a bird it can be enough to take a plane down. In this case I think a bird got stuck in the engine after hearing what the passengers said.
turbine blades spinning 20,000 rpm don't deal well with fod. The biggest issue is this happens most often at altitudes so low the plane cannot recover from the loss of power. They hire Falconers to keep runways clean of birds.
Was watching Wolf Blitzer on CNN and he had a guy on The Situation Room that said they have a guy that fires off a canon every few minutes to try to scare off any birds that try to congregate at LaGuardia. Since its right on the water this is always a concern with seagulls and other water fowl.
That isn't where I learned it, but yes, I have seen those. As a kid my best buddys Dad worked at Eastern Airline and was a jet engine guy. He took is in the hangers every so often and once showed us a blowed up turbine from a seagull.
Had to know the pilot was a vet. No time to think, just react and rely on your training. I just found this on him: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/15/chelsey-sullenberger-us-a_n_158331.html God bless him and all of our veterans.
It was really quite heartwarming to see, Lisa, the water taxis, coast guard and other passenger marine vessels all coming to the aid of the people on the plane. They said that Captain Sullenberg made the most genius decision to land it in the Hudson and how he was able to turn almost 180 degrees with no power and no engines. The worst injury was a woman who broke both her legs.
