TWO WINGS AND A PRAYER: How well-trained crew saves lives

A pilot making a crash-landing of the Airbus A320 like

the one that plunged into the Hudson River yesterday would sit at his or her

seat gripping an instrument called a sidestick to control the giant jetliner's

pitch and roll.

The pilot's feet would be on the rudder pedals. And as the aircraft neared

the water, the crew would labor to keep the plane's nose up, the flaps down and

the landing gear up.

US Airways pilot Chesley B. Sullenberger III, who landed his A320 jetliner

in the Hudson yesterday and safely evacuated everyone aboard, hasn't yet told

his story. But experts attributed the safe landing to the flight crew's

presence of mind and Sullenberger's apparent adherence to the emergency

protocols taught to all pilots.

"These are very, very experienced pilots," said John M. Cox, president of

Safety Operating Systems in Washington and a former commercial jet captain and

safety official with the Air Line Pilots Association.

When you're a pilot with a flight full of passengers, no power and no way

to get to a nearby airport, Cox and others said, the first thing to do is look

for a big open spot to land while maintaining exquisite control over the

aircraft.

"If the area that is the most open happened to be the Hudson River, that

would be the choice," said Cox, who flew for US Air.

Cox said it is not possible to jettison fuel from this particular model, an

Airbus A320, which adds to the imminent danger in making crash landings.

Faced with the difficult decision to try a water landing, "a pilot would

first look at the conditions of the waves," said Ross Aimer, a test pilot for

the Boeing Co. In yesterday's landing, the water was calm, so rough seas were

not a problem.

In trying to land with no engine power, the goal is to keep the aircraft

descending at a shallow angle in the most controlled way possible. "You stretch

the glide," Cox said, "so that you're getting as many feet forward as you can

for per each foot of altitude loss."

As that happens, the pilot must also ensure that the jet does not stall, or

"lose its lift."

Finally, shortly before impact, the pilot would tell the passengers to

brace themselves for an emergency landing.

Slowing the plane would help minimize the impact, experts said.

"The airplane should contact the water in the flattest attitude and at the

slowest speed," said Frank Ayers, chairman of the flight training department at

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.

The pilot must fight to keep the nose from pitching down once it touches

water. It's also critical to keep the wings from cutting into the water,

something that could cause them to rip apart, said Peter R. Leffe, an aviation

accident investigator in Malibu, Calif.

Once the US Airways plane was down, the flight crew hustled to open the

doors and inflate the raft slides so passengers could exit the plane, Cox said.

"I was very impressed. ... It was a very organized evacuation."