Kindly see discussion below.
US Airways Flight 1549 descends on its way to an emergency landing on the Hudson River in New York Jan. 15, 2009. The Airbus A320 bound for Charlotte, N.C., had reportedly struck a flock of birds immediately after takeoff minutes earlier at LaGuardia Airport. The birds apparently disabled the engines. The pilot maneuvered the crippled jetliner over New York City and ditched it in the frigid Hudson River. All 155 onboard were pulled to safety as the plane slowly sank.(Trela Media/AP Photo)
If that is not the loneliest picture of the year then don't ask me what is. Imagine being one of many in a cabin of passengers and finding yourself looking at rising water outside your window, then to step out on the wings of the aircraft and see 'the rescue' in progress. What a feeling for a flight crew to be able to save all those passengers 'intact.' You know, there is always those 'information cards' and 'flight crew demonstrations' of what to do in case of a water 'ditching' and it is taken with a grain of salt because everyone figures there is 'no chance' of survival if a plane crashes. Well. Who ever guessed this would occur, be survivable and those instructions actually being important. Goes to show what is important, huh?
I would like to point out the 'slides' that deployed at the front of the aircraft. For people that exit the plane at the front and aft doors those slides actually serve as floatation devices. What if these conditions existed and there was an unfavorable chance of rescue. Those floatation slides would never be able to hold all those folks. Yet, those that 'made it' would have to make decisions whether to 'rescue' or 'not rescue' knowing they could actually sink their small floation slides. Think about it. And then think about whether or not there should be more of those that are deployable within the aircraft should the need apply.
Passengers stand on the wings of a US Airways plane as a ferry pulls up to it after it landed in the Hudson River in New York, Jan. 15, 2009. Local media said the plane was an Airbus with 146 passengers and five crew members, which had just taken off from LaGuardia Airport and was trying to return after apparently striking a flock of birds. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
Tug boats are simply amazing water crafts. I always loved 'tug boats,' don't you? You know the story about the 'work horse' of the shipping fleet. What was the name of that children's story? Tubby the Tug Boat or something like that? Whoever would expect any New York City Tug Boat to be attain hero status here? Huh? With a plane. There was no training for this. Of course we can take this far more lightly than otherwise simply because 'the rescue' was so complete, from the training of the aircraft crew to the people that responded. Everyone survived even though some people were bearly able to walk with their extremities freezing. I am sure there are some injuries.
This video frame grab image taken from WNBC-TV shows the US Airways aircraft that landed in the Hudson River in New York Jan. 15, 2009. Rescue and ferry boats surround it. (WNBC-TV/AP Photo)
I guess the latest about this failure to attain 'take off' is that the plane still has an engine attached to the right wing. That can also be discerned by the photos of the plane 'listing' to the right in this photo.
Officials have praised the US Airways pilot, Chesley B. Sullenberger, who made a split-second decision to ditch the aircraft into the river rather then try to reach a small airport in New Jersey. (Edouard H. R. Gluck/AP Photo)
I am never going to be a 'fan' of flying. I have flown for lack of time when I needed to get somewhere, but, I also boycotted flying for nearly 18 years. I only fly because I have to, not because I want to. I don't believe in it and if we didn't have a 'fast forward' society I probably would find that I never would have to fly.
The airline industry is not my friend. It speeds the pace of life, pollutes my air, adds huge amounts of carbon dioxide to the troposphere and has 'built' the 'need' for itself through corporate infrastructure management that demands 'the same person' to be in ten places at once. Literally, one person's salary is utilized by some corporations in many places globally facilitated by air flight. Just that simple.
In realizing that level of competition, air flight has also facilitated 'consultants' and 'individuals' to compete with corporations in what is probably an 'unhealthy' corporate climate. I know that sounds like I am talking out of both sides of my mouth, but, the bottom line is that airlines have survived in a way that facilitates 'unhealthy' business patterns regardless of their nature.
Unlike some 'politicians' I don't believe 'every' industry should or can survive infrastructure changes demanded by reversing the trends of Human Induced Global Warming. To the extent the airline industry does exist today? I don't see it surviving in that capacity tomorrow.
So.
To engage a discussion about 'birds' near a runway is simply an 'after thought.' Quite frankly, there is 'no excuse' for any birds to interfer with a plane taking off on a runway anywhere. What needs to be examined ALSO is why birds are congregating at such places and whether or not that 'danger' is facilitated by 'job cuts' and 'draconian spending cuts' INCLUDING the preservation of 'natural areas' that provide for bird sanctuary in migration and the 'intact' status of Bird Flyways that should be exclusive of any air traffic.
Why fly, when the USA is desperately in need of 'fast transit' infrastructure such as Elevated High Speed Magnetic Rail? It doesn't make sense to be involved in this mess anymore.
Rail line, in particular for a high-speed magnetic train (click here)
Document Type and Number:
United States Patent 5647280
Abstract:
The invention relates to a rail line, in particular for a high-speed magnetic train, comprising supports (10) constituting the rail line, which are placed on girders (12, 14) originating on opposite sides (34, 36) of the support and assigned to it in pairs and rest on the ground (16) or a foundation. To achieve an orientation of the rail line in the desired amount, it has been proposed that the girders (12, 14), which are assigned in pairs to each other, have a distance at the ground which is less than that at the supporting end, wherein the girders, controlled to the necessary extent, are adjustable in a plane extending vertically in respect to the linear axis of the rail line (18) in such a way that the rail line extends inclined in respect to the horizontal line....
The birds that may or may not have caused the 'downing' of this jet should not have been there, but, they were. The Bush White House and its supportive Republican legislature have allowed the DE-REGULATION of the airline industry to the point where attacks on skyscrapers are possible and now the interference by birds of airplanes taking off.
Do we have to go there? The damage to the 'moral priorities,' including the safety of people in their daily lives, in the USA is gone. Not justifibly gone either. Justifibly gone would be due to the fact that the Republicans 'had a better and safer idea,' but, gone because 'regulations' cut into the 'bottom line' of marginally profitable 'customer service weighted' industries.
...The economic liberalization of air travel was part of a series of “deregulation” moves based on the growing realization that a politically controlled economy served no continuing public interest....(click here)
What was once a Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) that served to protect the consumer of airline services, no longer exists. It has been so long that such an agency hasn't existed that people have little concept as to why they are always at such a disadvantage to their needs or safety. So, this is a reminder of the 'old style' of government that actually protected people rather than practicing 'victimology' as part of their 'profitibility' statements.
Oddly enough the Airline Deregulation Act was written by a former Democrat, Senator Howard Cannon, whom was once in the Army Air Corp and later the Air Force Reserve. Obviously he thought highly enough about the 'integrity' of the abilities of pilots to handle aircraft with people in them, as in the case of this US Airways pilot, to allow them to support a market for those services independant of government control. However, what Senator Howard did not forsee was the exploitation of 'decency' by businesses that would spawn 'cheap airlines' and prove it impossible for other more responsible carriers to compete.
At any rate the technology for 'other' means of high speed transportation exists and it exists in ways that are less dangerous, more glamorous and comfortable. It is time to place priorities on changing our infrastructure and securing the public in ways that are reasonable for 'the times' we live in rather than re-addressing a deregulated and failing industry. We don't have to or need to fly. As a matter of fact, it is probably time for me to revisit boycotting the industry again. As a people and citizens of the USA we need to achieve higher principles of moral business conduct that includes responsibility for a dying planet and the principles of Conservation that will support those methodologies of responsibility.
