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WORLD NEWS Friday 16 august 2019
Russian pilot safely lands jetliner disabled by bird strike

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV about bird strike risks when
TOM KRISHER he was an NTSB member.
Associated Press Another problem is that
MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian many Canada geese,
pilot whose passenger jet which caused Sullenberg-
lost power in both engines er's Hudson River emergen-
after colliding with a flock cy landing, are not migrat-
of gulls shortly after take- ing as often due to warmer
off Thursday managed to temperatures blamed on
land in a cornfield smoothly climate change, so they're
enough that only one of around northern airports for
the 233 people on board longer periods, Hansman
was hurt seriously enough said.
to be hospitalized. With both engines down,
The quick thinking of the the Russian pilot was flying
captain, 41-year old Damir what essentially is a glider
Yusupov, drew compari- that he could control for a
sons to the 2009 "miracle on limited time. His toughest
the Hudson," when Capt. decision, Hansman said,
Chesley Sullenberger safely was where to try to land.
ditched his plane in New "When you're in a glid-
York's Hudson River after a er, you've got a certain
bird strike disabled its en- In this video grab provided by the RU-RTR Russian television, a Russian Ural Airlines' A321 plane amount of altitude," he
gines. is seen after an emergency landing in a cornfield near Ramenskoye, outside Moscow, Russia, said. "You have to make
Experts say the two near- Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019. the judgment what's the
tragedies could force air- Associated Press best place I can fly with the
craft makers and regulators amount of energy I have
to rethink engine designs so school when he was 32. A cannons and other means really pushed the envelope left because I'm not getting
they can better withstand father of four, he has flown to chase them from run- where we are today." any more from the engine."
bird strikes, although tech- with Ural Airlines since his ways. Smaller birds are usu- Airports could also deal Besides a runway, a corn-
nology to do that is not yet graduation in 2013. He be- ally chopped up by turbine with the problem on the field is a good place to
available. came a captain last year. fan blades, but engines ground by monitoring birds land because it's free of big
Yusupov was hailed as a Yusupov's wife told Rossiya aren't designed to with- with radar and restricting rocks and trees that could
hero after the feat, and state television from their stand strikes from multiple takeoffs when large flocks damage the plane, Goglia
Russian television stations home in Yekaterinburg that birds or larger birds such as are in the area, Hansman said.
showed passengers stand- he called her after land- geese, said John Hansman, said. The lack of deaths or seri-
ing in head-high corn next ing, before she had heard an aeronautics professor at Some Russian media re- ous injuries is an example
to the plane, hugging Yu- about the emergency. the Massachusetts Institute ports suggested the birds of how the aviation safety
supov and thanking him for "He called me and said: of Technology. could have been drawn to system worked correctly,
saving their lives. 'Everything is fine, everyone Birds rarely disable both Zhukovsky Airport by an un- according to Hansman.
The Ural Airlines Airbus A321 is alive,'" she said. "I asked of a jet's engines, but with authorized garbage dump Aircraft seats are manufac-
was carrying 226 passen- what was it, and he said two cases reported in a de- nearby, but there was no tured to protect passen-
gers and a crew of seven that birds hit the engine cade, jet makers may have immediate confirmation of gers in cases like this, and
as it took off from Moscow's and we landed in a field. I to redesign future engines the claim. the fuel tanks are designed
Zhukovsky Airport en route was horrified and in panic to better resist such a strike, On Jan. 15, 2009, a US Air- to stay intact for a rough
to Simferopol in Crimea. and burst into tears." Hansman said. ways Airbus A320 piloted by landing to prevent fires.
Russia's Rosaviatsiya state Russian officials immedi- "That's likely to be a discus- Sullenberger hit a flock of And the pilots seemed to
aviation agency chief, ately rushed to shower the sion, just because the over- geese after taking off from be well prepared for such
Alexander Neradko, told pilot and crew with praise. all aviation system learns New York City's LaGuardia an emergency, Hansman
reporters that the crew President Vladimir Putin's from incidents like this," he Airport and both of its en- said.
"made the only right deci- spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said, adding that risks and gines shut down. The crew "The pilot did a good job,
sion" to immediately land hailed the pilots as "heroes" probabilities will have to be made an emergency land- but that's why he was
the fully loaded plane with and said they will receive weighed. ing in the Hudson River there," he said.q
its wheels up after both of state awards. Prime Minister John Goglia, a former along midtown Manhattan
its engines malfunctioned. Dmitry Medvedev opened member of the U.S. Na- and all 155 people aboard
"The crew has shown cour- a session of Cabinet by tional Transportation Safety survived despite landing in
age and professionalism praising the crew and ask- Board, said the bird-vs- en- frigid water.
and deserve the highest ing the transport minister to gine problem has been The so-called "miracle on
state awards," he said, explain what happened. under study for years, with the Hudson" was immortal-
adding that the plane was The Emergencies Ministry no fix available at present. ized in the Hollywood mov-
fully loaded with 16 tons of said that 74 people asked If engine components are ie "Sully," based on the au-
fuel. "Just imagine what the for medical assistance af- made of heavier, stron- tobiography of Sullenberg-
consequences would be if ter the incident. Health au- ger materials, there's a risk er and starring Tom Hanks.
the crew didn't make the thorities said 23 people, in- that they could crack and Pilots train often to fly with
correct decision." cluding five children, were break off, striking the fuse- one engine disabled, but
The airline said Yusupov, taken to the hospital, but lage and injuring passen- it's rare for birds to knock
the son of a helicopter pi- all but one was released gers, he said. out both engines, experts
lot, is an experienced pilot following check-ups. "As far as the engine being say. Still, pilots do prepare
who has logged over 3,000 Bird strikes on planes oc- able to digest the larger to lose both engines and of-
flight hours. He worked as a cur regularly around the birds, we don't have the ten know the safest places
lawyer before he changed world even though airports technology," he said. "We near an airport to land, said
course and joined a flight use bird distress signals, air don't have the metals. They Goglia, who spoke often