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Quotation of the Day

Normally when you put a large transport plane in the water, most of the time they do not have a good outcome.”

Margaret Soltan, January 16, 2009 8:37AM
Posted in: headline of the day

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3 Responses to “Quotation of the Day”

  1. Eric the Read Says:

    This is, in fact, the very first time a commercial aircraft has successfully made a water landing. As a matter of probability, the average airline cabin attendant would be better off spending their time telling you how to kiss your ass goodbye in the event of a water landing. 🙂

  2. Polish Peter Says:

    Yes, everything seemed to have lined up just right: adequate altitude, quick-thinking and experienced pilot, little wind, calm water, well-trained crew (didn’t open the back doors, wisely), lots of boats around. I will have to readjust my view of the safety presentation from now on, since until now I have been thinking that the odds of being on the first large commercial jet to successfully ditch were about zero. Apparently the one with the 767 in the Comoros in 1996 was on track to be successful but a hijacker lunged for the controls at the last minute causing the wing and engine to catch the water. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PresBOtxFaY and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Airlines_Flight_961.

  3. david foster Says:

    There apparently have been at least a couple examples of jets going into the water with good survival ratios. A Russian Tupolev went into the Neva river after running out of fuel..it floated and was towed to shore, with everyone aboard saved. In the U.S., a 727 went into the bay near Pensacola…three passengers drowned but others survived.

    Ernest Gann’s novel "The High and the Mighty," in which the flight crew must decide whether to ditch or try to make it to SF airport, was based on a real incident, but this involved a 4-engine piston-powered plane rather than a jet.

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