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 03:25 pm (UTC)80m seems more like the wingspan of an A320, not the engine spacing. I might buy 80 feet...
All the same, yes it was exceptional, but to be surprised that it could happen at all suggests unwarranted optimism.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 04:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 07:35 pm (UTC)