Fly by Wire: The Geese, the Glide, the Miracle on the Hudson

A pilot, a plane and their nine-minute feat of excellence By Rae Francoeur In "Fly By Wire: The Geese, the Glide, the Miracle on the Hudson," William Langewiesche -- pilot, author, editor -- delivers a detailed, informed and lively analysis of the variables at play in the successful landing of the US Airways A320 in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009. Captain Chesley Sullenberger and his copilot Jeffrey Skiles made the outcome appear simple, perhaps even inevitable. They have long and relevant experience. They are intelligent and intuitive pilots. They are unwavering professionals. And they possess uncanny concentration abilities. Sullenberger (also known as Sully), readers come to realize, exhibits characteristics even more rare and handy: competence and emotional smarts and mindset all perfectly in tune with each other. Sully is the epitome of grounded, demonstrating something akin to perfect pitch. Like the remarkable Airbus he piloted, he is an operational wonder -- all systems in synch and performing optimally. What is surprising is how precarious Flight 1549 actually was. The images we have of passengers standing calmly on the airplane's wings deny everything that came before. The entire ordeal, from takeoff to engine failure due to colliding with geese to the time rescuers arrived on the Hudson, lasted nine minutes. The one thing the book cannot do is give us this event in real time so we can see how fast things progressed from bad to dire to the ditching itself. For example, at least five geese collided with the plane a minute and a half after takeoff. Three seconds later the trashed engines began to wind down. Deceleration was dramatic and the pilots, says Langewiesche, urgently tried to restore thrust to the engines. Every move and decision, each one crucial, was measured in seconds. Meanwhile Air Traffic Controller Patrick Harten calmly worked in the background to clear local runways and keep the pilots updated. And the Airbus, in all its "fly by wire" glory, maintained stability at each stage of the post-collision flight. Once the plane landed, the situation remained tense. For example, the belly had ruptured and a beam shot up through the floor of plane's aft galley area, right beside one of the flight attendants. The cabin began to flood immediately and passengers in the rear of the plane were already up to their ankles in river water before they had time to unbuckle their seatbelts. Langewiesche does a good job of delivering the story, whose ending we know, as if it were new to us. He's an energetic storyteller and journalist who, because of his own background as a pilot, deftly imparts the technical aspects of flying and plane engineering for the lay reader's full and enjoyable comprehension. He fills us in on the miracle, not just of the landing, but of the Airbus, a plane that practically flies itself due to its innovative electrical interface and cannot be overridden at crucial junctures. He introduces us to the miserab

This book is a must read for frequent air travelers and anyone who loves aviation...

I just happened upon this book in the library today; of course everyone knows the story but I thought it would be an interesting read. To say it is an "interesting read" is really not doing it justice. I have not been able to put it down. William Langewiesche's writing is perfectly dead-on. He gives the facts but weaves it into a readable format including the parts about engine thrust and using birds to test engines. He does not over-dramatize and there isn't a word that doesn't belong. He has a sense of humor that makes you read it, stop, think "did he really say that?" and read it again. I had never heard of Langewiesche but plan on reading all of his books. Easy, quick to read, enthralling from start to finish. READ IT TODAY!!!!!

I just finished reading Fly By Wire and I feel it necessary to chime in, because I feel that some of the assertions in this thread are, unfortunately, off the mark. One person alleges: "It is widely accepted that the crew of 1549 are heroes. This author attempts to diminish their efforts." On the contrary, it's very clear that Langewiesche takes every possible opportunity to praise not only Sullenberger--whose decision-making and piloting he described as "masterful"--but the crew as well. A well-deserved number of positive adjectives are situated next to Sullenberger's name throughout the book. Just because Langewiesche goes a step further to praise the revolutionary aircraft, too--and its forward-looking engineers led by Bernard Ziegler--doesn't take anything away from what Sullenberger accomplished that day. He is merely telling the whole story. And this: "This author disregards the numerous worldwide crashes of airbus aircraft due to its "fly-by-wire" automation. One of the best examples of this is the crash of an A320 which was doing an airshow fly by with one of Airbuses test pilots flying the aircraft. [...]. This airbus was flown below 50 feet over the runway for the fly by..." Langewiesche not only reconstructs this accident in exhaustive detail in the book, but he devotes AN ENTIRE CHAPTER to it. "Disregards?" Horribly irresponsible, to say such a thing. Please. Please. Read. The. Book. I have followed Langewiesche's writing for years (his recent work at Vanity Fair and his encyclopedic catalog from The Atlantic in the 90s, and early aughts). He has never struck me, in any way, as a sensationalistic writer. He's not one to take on tabloid subjects. And this book IS NOT about debunking the hero myth of Sullenberger (he simply doesn't do it. See for yourself.). There are clearly bigger and more important issues at hand, and Langewiesche is operating at a much higher level (or, to keep with the theme at hand... A much higher "altitude"). It's the whole story of not only what happened the day, but a history of modern aviation. (Also, in recent news: Langewiesche's extensive aviation writing--he's a professional pilot, after all--is being published in a forthcoming volume by Penguin Classics. The last I checked, they don't exactly do that for amateurs...) My favorite part of Fly by Wire can be found in a gripping section where he pieces together the entire flight from inside the cabin--take-off to the Hudson. At one point he describes how one passenger, a man, takes a woman's child and protects it against the imminent crash, at a risk to himself. "What more can be said of anyone?" Langewiesche asks. It's an amazing, thoughtful book that blazes by! Please. Read it!

William Langewiesche's analysis of all the factors which contributed to the "Miracle on the Hudson" is a story that matches the events themselves in terms of excitement. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, pilot of the Airbus A320 which hit a flock of geese, lost both engines, and landed in the Hudson River with no loss of life on January 15, 2009, has rightly been lauded for his performance and has become a popular hero. But he was not alone in the making of this miracle. The plane itself contributed mightily to the successful outcome and the saving of the lives of all one hundred fifty passengers and five crew. Designed to remain stable under the most extraordinary conditions, the European-made Airbus is controlled by computerized systems which can not be over-ridden by pilots as they make split second moves during emergencies. "This marriage between electrical control circuits and digital computer [has become known] as fly-by-wire." Langewiesche, an award-winning journalist and pilot, is at home with his subject, and he has interviewed virtually everyone who could give input into this story, creating a vibrant, lively, and thoughtful analysis of all the individual elements--including luck--which contributed to this happy ending. At the same time, he also analyzes some of the elements which may have led to the accident, including the issue of bird strikes throughout aviation history and why they happen. In his attempt to give the complete picture, Langewiesche also considers the financial problems of the airlines, the power of the pilots' unions, the comfortable relationship between the NTSB and the airlines and unions, and the competition between Airbus and Boeing. He includes a number of case studies of major accidents, many of which will be familiar to readers, and one of which is the disappearance into the Atlantic of the Air France flight from Brazil to Paris in June, 2009. As Langewiesche describes the flight from takeoff to landing in the Hudson a mere five minutes later, he really hits his stride, creating a fast-paced narrative full of tension and human drama. Co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles, air traffic controller Patrick Harten, and the flight attendants, are praised. Ultimately, Langewiesche grants enormous credit to Sullenberger for his decisions, including the decision to head for the Hudson when many thought he might have made it to an airport. "Sullenberger made the right decision. No matter what," Langewiesche says. Sullenberger also made a few original decisions based on his feel for the plane and his intense concentration during the emergency, despite the fact that these moves have never been included in any operations manual. One of these decisions helped prevent a more catastrophic loss. A serious study which nevertheless has moments of humor, Fly by Wire is a thoroughly absorbing account of a great moment in aviation history and the people and the plane which made this moment a "miracle." Mary Whipple