ABSTRACT
In 2009, US Airways flight 1549 took off from New York with 155 people on board. Immediately after take-off, it struck a large flock of Canada geese and both engines shut down. It is not unusual for planes to hit birds, but a dual bird strike is rare. Jet engines are designed to cope with most birds by liquefying them. However, because Canada geese are large, the engines shut down. Once the captain realised that both engines had failed, he took control of the plane and made an instinctive decision to carry out a crash landing on the Hudson River. All the passengers survived. After successfully landing the damaged Airbus on the Hudson River and saving the lives of all passengers, Captain Sullenberger was praised for his poise and calm demeanour during the crisis. When asked how he handled the situation so calmly, he responded, ‘When I realised the crisis, I immediately took control and made a series of decisions. I thought that for the last forty-two years, I had been making small, regular deposits in the bank of “experience” by analysing and planning stressful situations, and on that day the balance was sufficient for me to make a large withdrawal.’
