... I give the crew tons of credit, but, if you want to here a heroic pilot story read about Al Haynes. He was the pilot of the United DC10 that crashed in Iowa. Now he is a heroic SOB.. He had very little control over his DC10 when the #2 engine blew and caused a loss of all hydraulic systems. That ain't supposed to happen. He was as cool as ice the entire time, that guy, now he is one heroic SOB....
Video of Sioux City crash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoCYkU6_vOM&feature=relatedI saw a TV movie based on this instance years ago. Seems like Efrem Zimbalist Jr. played the pilot and Ron Howard played ... the safety director at the Sioux City airport? I didn't remember the pilot's name, but he gave credit to the young man in the control tower for being so calm and "matter-of-fact" during the emergency. Here's a link to the exchange followed by an interview with Al Haynes (text only)
http://www.clear-prop.org/aviation/haynes.html Whoever Ron Howard played had implemented and/or rehersed a disaster preparedness plan just days or weeks before the crash happened, so the airport personnel were ready for it.
Certainly no one had any idea Al Haynes' problems were physically possible. His set of circumstances couldn't have been programmed into any simulator or rehersed in any pilot's mind -
(Think I'm right about this.)But I totally agree with this:
A jet crash lands into a river and 150+ passengers live. The guy is a hero no matter how you look at it, ...
If for no other reason because not a single life was lost under such dire conditions, and people did die at Sioux City.
...Typo------Since you cannot carry a pen knife anymore, the sinking plane would pull the rafts down. A boatman threw a knife down to the raft.
