Airplanes designed to survive water landings

Experts say the design aided in the survival of those on board the US Airways plane ditching in the Hudson.

Travel Insurance News - 19/01/2009

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According to university professor Bill Waldock, a combination of the design elements promoting aircraft buoyancy and the skill of the plane’s crew members kept the passengers safe.

He said: "You've heard of airworthiness. Planes are also designed for crashworthiness."

Waldock is also a pilot and an aircraft accident investigator, and noted that much like a ship an airplane will float "as long as you don't let the plane get full of water. It's the buoyancy provided by the air in the plane."

The US Airways Airbus 320 that went into the Hudson River in New York City last Thursday was built with a low wing design that helped keep most of the fuselage above the water’s surface. Waldock said that this feature contributes to buoyancy as well.

According to the aircraft expert, the escape slide used for evacuating passengers also serves as a flotation device, and is credited with keeping passengers out of the frigid waters of the river when the incident occurred.

Most important of all, Waldock noted, it was the crew’s skill that averted a major disaster, and the pilot’s leadership.

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