Thursday, January 15, 2009

LaGuardia is in my Blog Again!

This time though it is about US Airways Flight 1549, flying out of LaGuardia, (Which is in Queens, NY.) and heading to Charlotte, N.C. today. The scheduled departure time was 2:45pm EST, but the actual departure time was 3:03pm EST. According to US Airways website under status, it says "Departed", which is true, and there is a Status Exception, and an 800 number to call. And it appears that there are over 150 survivors, with no casualties, and a few injuries, including a passenger with 2 broken legs. It was a miracle of coincidences, and for many survivors probably an extremely spiritual, and maybe even religious experience. I am very happy they all came out OK, as there is too much death, destruction and evil in this world.

I just flew out of LaGuardia just 17 days ago, and to be honest, I do have these fleeting thoughts when I fly, which is more often then the average American or Earthling for that matter, that something like this might happen, and what will I do. These folks were lucky because they were still low enough, and close enough to water, and need I say, a top notch aviator (I'm a little partial toward pilots, even though there is a little envy there sometimes, because growing up I had big dreams of becoming a pilot.) who, through his extraordinary skills, brought his passengers home alive. Great job there Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger, and I salute you. I also salute the aircraft crew, passengers and all the rescue personnel, along with all the water taxis, CircleLine, and everyone else that helped out in this rescue. Great Job across the board. I know I have beaten up on one particular airline recently, so here is a positive. Any landing that you can walk away from is a good landing, so by extension, the NWA Pilots did their job. So, great job NWA Pilots!

One thing that I found interesting, and that was thrown around today is the fact that birds (They threw the words Canadian Geese around a lot too.) caused the catastrophic failure of both engines at the same time. Now, that is just a theory, as the NTSB hasn't done their investigation yet, and it will be months before a final report will be out. But this bird theory was thrown around all day, but what do you expect from the likes of Wolf Blitzer of CNN, or Cory Rose, who is from K2TV. Wolfie kept badgering the passengers, or whoever the particular expert was he had on, and forcing the questions to get an answer that he wanted. What a dip-shit. He isn't a journalist, just a pseudo news entertainer. As for Cory, oh sweet Cory, she just came out and said during the 5pm news that the cause of the crash was the result of birds flying into the engine. Talk about quick results, hey! The NTSB would love her on the payroll, because then they wouldn't have to do an investigation, and could save the taxpayers millions of dollars!

Looking back 3 weeks, while I was at my brothers place on Long Island, Shoreham to be exact, I witnessed many flights of those there Canadian Geese quite often. During the early part of the day they seemed to be heading west, and during the late afternoon, into the evening they were heading east. Shoreham is about 40-50 miles east, as the crow, or should I say Canadian Geese flies from LaGuardia. I don't really understand the migratory patterns of those Canadian Geese, but I do know they can be ornery, loud, they crap all over golf courses, and their turds are quite big, but I have never really measured the exact size. So, maybe it wasn't a bird, but a coordinated effort by a flock of geese, seeing this big metal bird approaching at high speed, they let loose with a carpet bombing of geese turd. The turds then got sucked into both engines, fouling up the ignitors, or whatever causes the burn in the turbines, or making the blades unbalanced, causing them to fail. Hey, it's just a theory, just like other theories floating around out there. Honestly though, the flocks that I saw flying over Shoreham were huge, some numbering in the hundreds. They reminded me, as I stood there and watched them, of those old news reels they showed during WWII (And afterwards in all the documentaries about the war.) of the waves of planes flying over, with hundreds and hundreds of them at a time, all flying in "V" formations. It was just amazing to watch, and I was in awe. I know those blades in the turbines are tested to a very high standard, but if aircraft maintenence was not up to snuff, and the blades were weakened do to structural fatigue, or out-lived their useful life, well, we can see what happens. But both engines going out at the same time is an anomolie, and a red flag for me. More on this tomorrow as I am slowly fading out, as the Seroquel is starting to kick in.....Snore....snore....snorrrrrreeee.....

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