Miracle & Myth

Training and experience were the true saviours.

It is known as the “Miracle on the Hudson”. Five minutes of flight time that have been documented, dissected and dramatised on the world stage. Yet beyond this skilful act of piloting, the incident reached the broader community in a way that few aviation events had previously. Now, 10 years on from that fateful flight, it remains both a coffee room talking point for the public and an excellent case study for aviators.

US Airways Flight 1549

History records that on January 5 2009, the US Airways Airbus A320, callsign “Cactus 1549”, encountered a flock of Canada Geese at around 3,000 feet after takeoff from New York’s LaGuardia Airport. With an average weight of around 3.5 kilograms, these migratory birds are substantial in size and resulted in a dual engine failure when they were ingested by the A320.