NTSB weighs air-safety rules

May 5, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Federal safety investigators on Tuesday applauded last year’s ditching of an airliner into the Hudson River as an example of an accident in which everything went right, but they still drafted a slew of safety recommendations for how it can go even better should such an event happen again.

Recommendations being considered by the National Transportation Safety Board include changing aircraft engines so that they are better able to withstand large birds. They also want specific procedures for pilots to follow when they lose the use of both engines at low altitudes; current procedures assume engine power will be lost at a high altitude with enough time to recover.

The board also wants to alert pilots immediately if engines aren’t capable of being restarted so that they don’t waste precious time trying to restart them. They want to improve training for pilots on how to land in water, including landing without engine power. And they want all airports that serve airlines to have plans for reducing birds and other wildlife on airport property.

US Airways Flight 1549 had just taken off from LaGuardia Airport in New York on Jan. 15, 2009, when it struck a flock of migratory Canada geese, sucking geese into both engines. The Airbus A320 lost all power in one engine and nearly all power in the second.

Unable to restart the engine, Flight 1549’s captain, Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, chose to land the disabled plane on the Hudson rather than try for LaGuardia. All 155 passengers and crew aboard managed to escape the sinking craft.