I have been following the news on the 'crashed' US Airways Airbus A320 in the Hudson River hours earlier, and it's great to know that everyone made it out alive. Props to the pilots for landing a huge jet safely on water!
Apparently, the situation transpired due to the plane's engines losing power after hitting a flock of birds. It would be interesting to know how many birds it took to bring down the engines. Engines are very thoroughly tested, and are generally capable of surviving a bird strike. It is in fact a certification requirement of the FAA that an engine should still be able to function if a medium-sized bird is sucked into the jet during takeoff. (link). We were in fact shown a video in class by one of the Pratt & Whitney people of the bird test, and it was pretty spectacular. upon impact, the blades of the engine changed shape and wobbled spinelessly in slo-mo. sorry i couldn't find a youtube video to go with this.
and, just a few days ago there was this headline on cnn " U.S. airlines fly 2 years without fatality". I am glad this incident today didn't dash hopes for a 3rd year without fatality!
now, getting back to me. today, i made an effort to work out the scheduling conflict i mentioned yesterday. and as expected, the professor was firm with his date. but i still haven't given up. i'll try again tomorrow in person.
alright, i'm off then. i've a class at 8 in the morning! i've missed quite a few of these, i can sleep through alarms if i haven't got enough sleep.
bis morgen!
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