Miracle at 48th Street?
Jan. 16th, 2009 07:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
herveusWhilst listening to Bomb Shelter Radio last night, Fuzz was talking about the off-airport landing of the USAir flight from LaGuardia. I'm pretty sure I heard him say something like "it's a miracle". I'm not sure if he was speaking for himself or quoting someone... whatever.
The first thing that leapt to mind was "If it's a miracle, Colour Sergeant, it's a Boxer Henry short point 45 caliber miracle", spoken by Lieutenant Chard to Colour Sergeant Bourne at the conclusion of the remarkable stand by B Company, 24th Foot, at Rourke's Drift in which a company stood off three battalions or so of Zulus over a day and a night. Great story.
It is clear from the outcome on the Hudson that the drivers didn't stop flying that airplane until it had come to a complete stop, then saw to the orderly disembarkation of the passengers in their care. It is a remarkable outcome, but we are not at a loss for an explanation of how it came to pass, thus not meeting the requirements for miraculosity.
Ah, well...
Update: The article in the Washington Post was laudably free from hyperbole. It did claim that the birds in question were geese -- somewhat larger than most birds. It did say "Safety experts expressed surprise that a commercial jet with modern engines could be brought down by a flock of birds." Some experts...
The first thing that leapt to mind was "If it's a miracle, Colour Sergeant, it's a Boxer Henry short point 45 caliber miracle", spoken by Lieutenant Chard to Colour Sergeant Bourne at the conclusion of the remarkable stand by B Company, 24th Foot, at Rourke's Drift in which a company stood off three battalions or so of Zulus over a day and a night. Great story.
It is clear from the outcome on the Hudson that the drivers didn't stop flying that airplane until it had come to a complete stop, then saw to the orderly disembarkation of the passengers in their care. It is a remarkable outcome, but we are not at a loss for an explanation of how it came to pass, thus not meeting the requirements for miraculosity.
Ah, well...
Update: The article in the Washington Post was laudably free from hyperbole. It did claim that the birds in question were geese -- somewhat larger than most birds. It did say "Safety experts expressed surprise that a commercial jet with modern engines could be brought down by a flock of birds." Some experts...
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 02:36 pm (UTC)Lieutenant John Chard: If it's a miracle, Colour Sergeant, it's a short chamber Boxer Henry point 45 caliber miracle.
Colour Sergeant Bourne: And a bayonet, sir, with some guts behind.
Wonderful movie. I should watch it (again) tonight.
I think the miraculous part of the whole plane landing thing is that nothing went wrong: The pilot made a perfect landing under very difficult conditions; the emergency chutes and flotation devices deployed properly; none of the passengers panicked wildly (so they were able to get everyone out in a swift and orderly fashion; there were ferry boats on hand; the emergency responders were there very quickly; and so on.
It's hard to coordinate all that sort of stuff when you're trying to do it with plenty of time. To do it on an ad-hoc emergency basis and have it all go right is at least unusual, if not downright miraculous.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 07:33 pm (UTC)