Landing a plane on the water is thought to be the easier way out of an emergency on board an aircraft, but experts say it's not that simple. Successful splashdown of an airliner depends on several very important factors, the influence of which is not always positive.

Factors of successful landing of an aircraft at sea

An emergency situation that occurs on board an aircraft and requires the immediate landing of the aircraft may arise for various reasons. In the overwhelming majority of cases, this happens for technical reasons, due to the failure of on-board equipment.

According to many experts, the successful splashdown of an aircraft depends on the following fundamental factors:

• weather conditions;
• aircraft type;
• pilot skill.

The complexity of such situations lies in the fact that all these factors must be taken into account by the commander and evaluated almost instantly, because. seconds count. The lives of the crew and passengers depend on the correctness of the decision he makes.

Weather

In difficult weather conditions, when an emergency landing is carried out in rough seas with strong winds, the crew must take into account the strength of the wind, the direction of the waves and their height. The behavior of the aircraft in extreme conditions of emergency splashdown to a large extent depends on these conditions. At the same time, if we correctly evaluate all weather, splashdown in a stormy sea will not differ in complexity from landing on a calm surface of the water.

Important! The airliner needs to splash down parallel to the wave crests and in no case in the direction of the wave.

Important! Landing should take place at the slowest aircraft speed possible in the given situation, but care must be taken not to lift the nose too much, which could lead to the destruction of the fuselage upon impact with the water surface.

At this time, the aircraft is affected by colossal overloads, which, at the slightest mistake of the crew, lead to the destruction of the aircraft. If the ship's commander adequately assessed the situation and chose the correct course of descent and contact with the water surface, the chances of a favorable outcome and saving people increase significantly.

Additional Information:

• to assess the height of the waves and the direction of their movement, a height of no more than 600 m is needed;
• according to the laws of wave interference, the height of the successive sea ​​waves varies, so even in storm conditions there are calm areas on the sea surface.

Airliner type

In conditions emergency situation the type of aircraft is important. According to experts, there are a number of patterns that positively or negatively affect the outcome of an emergency landing on water:

• the larger and heavier the airliner, the greater the chance of a safe splashdown;
• the fuselage, most often suffering from impact on the surface of the water, must have a significant margin of safety;
• retracted landing gear is a prerequisite.

Big passenger aircraft there are all the advantages listed, including reinforced fuselages. If the chassis system is in good condition, then it is not difficult to ensure their closure. If the landing gear is not retracted, then this can cause shocks and throws when in contact with the wave, and the result is damage to the wings and partial or complete destruction of the airliner.

Crew professionalism

The ship's commander cannot influence this circumstance, but by correctly considering the characteristics of his aircraft and assuming how it will behave in given conditions, he can minimize the risks of serious damage or destruction of the aircraft.

Without exaggeration, it can be noted that the lives of passengers and crew depend on the level of professionalism of the commander, because. He always makes the final decision. This factor is decisive. The extent to which the commander correctly assessed and took into account all the risks and capabilities of the aircraft ultimately determines the outcome of an emergency splashdown.

During training, all pilots learn how to act in various emergency and contingency situations, which are practiced on simulators and analyzed in detail in theoretical classes.

Important! After the first contact of the aircraft with the water surface, the aircraft loses control, and the pilots can no longer control it.

Important! During an emergency landing on a calm water surface, an important role is played by the correct assessment of the height of the aircraft above the water surface.

If it is difficult for the crew to correctly and accurately determine the height of the aircraft above the sea surface, it can be determined empirically by making several turns and throwing any objects into the water from the side. Then you can try to sit on the sea surface.

Splashing on rivers and bays

The most convenient for emergency splashdown are the so-called closed water spaces, such as rivers, bays, bays, etc. In this case, the crew should, if possible, make a preliminary circle and assess the conditions for landing:

• the presence of foreign objects;
• dimensions of the area for maneuver (cannot be less than 1500x90 m);
• wind direction;
• flow direction.

Important! With a weak river current, if the wind blows from the wrong side, from which it is necessary, then splashdown is performed against the wind.

Important! If the directions of the wind and current coincide, emergency splashdown is carried out against the wind and current.

Important! If the current and the wind are opposite, then the planes splash down against the direction of the wind.

The best calculation of the landing trajectory is considered, in which the aircraft will end up near the coast, which will greatly facilitate the evacuation of passengers and crew members.

Actions of pilots during landing on water

In order to land the aircraft as safely as possible on the water, the crew must work smoothly and immediately follow all the orders of the commander. The sequence of actions in this case is as follows:

1. Remove landing gear and flaps, otherwise proceed as in a normal landing;
2. Transfer all engines to low speed;
3. Upon reaching a height of 2 m, the body of the aircraft should be leveled, and the nose should be slightly raised at the moment of contact with the water surface;
4. The flight to the desired location continues with an excess of the critical speed level by 20 km/h;
5. When approaching the selected splashdown point, you need to release the gas and raise the frontal part in such a way as not to reduce the speed to critical;
6. After touching the water, the nose must be lowered so that the area of ​​\u200b\u200bcontact with the water surface is maximum, this will facilitate braking;
7. The position of the liner is controlled by the pilot in manual mode, using the elevator;
8. After the final braking, the crew must proceed to the evacuation of passengers.

Landing at night

In the event that an emergency landing of a crashed aircraft on the water occurs at night, you need to turn on the headlights after reaching a height of about 150 m and carefully monitor to correctly catch the moment when you need to level the airliner before contact with the water in order to prevent hitting the water surface or critical speed reduction.

Important! If the landing is carried out in cloudy or foggy conditions, then the lighting is not turned on.

In clear weather, splashdown is carried out towards the moon, this will give the most correct orientation and assessment of the situation, wind speed and direction, and the degree of sea turbulence.

Important! It should be remembered that in such a situation the sea surface seems less rough than in reality.

Evacuation of passengers and crew after splashdown

After the aircraft comes to a complete stop, the ship's commander must assess the situation and decide which emergency exits will open. This is done based on the position of the aircraft relative to the direction of the wind and waves, in order to prevent water from entering the emergency hatches.

After that, the commander gives the order to launch the life rafts and start the evacuation of passengers. The crew must organize the evacuation in such a way as to prevent panic, congestion a large number people in one place, because this can lead to a dangerous roll of the hull of the liner.

Passengers dressed in life jackets are evenly distributed by flight attendants near all emergency exits. The process should take place as quickly as possible in order to have time to leave the ship before it begins to sink. The commander of the ship is in full control of the situation and must leave the aircraft last, after which he continues to lead the rescue and must request help via the emergency radio station.

Important! When determining emergency exits for evacuation, you need to choose those that are above the water level overboard, in order to avoid flooding the liner. This can be done by looking outside through the windows of the emergency exits.

Important! In the event of a storm at sea, you need to open emergency hatches located above the wings, and those that are on the leeward side.

Typically, life rafts are brought by flight attendants to the desired exit manually, fastened with special ropes to the exit door so that they are not carried away by the wave, and are dropped into the water. After that, a special starting rope (connecting the air valve to the gas cylinder) fills the life raft with air.

After the first life raft is filled with people, the second raft is lowered, and the first is connected with a rope to the second raft, which, in turn, is tied to emergency exit, etc. Thus, after the completion of the evacuation, all liferafts must be connected to each other with ropes of at least 8 m in length.

After that, you need to sail to a safe distance as quickly as possible so that the rafts do not get sucked into the funnel that forms when the plane goes to the bottom.

Important! If the painter connecting the raft to the escape hatch is not cut, then after the aircraft begins to sink, the painter will burst and the life rafts will be pulled after the sinking aircraft.

All crew members must act clearly and coherently in accordance with the instructions and orders of the ship's commander. The commander leaves the plane only after making sure that there are no living people in it.

Additional Information. There are times when an airliner does not sink and stays on the water, life rafts should not sail far from it, so as not to complicate the search for survivors by rescue services.

History reference

In history, the number of cases of successful splashdown of aircraft is more than a dozen. In Soviet times, one of the most striking cases occurred when a Soviet airliner TU-124 splashed down on the water surface of the Neva in extreme conditions. Thanks to the skill of the ship's commander V.Ya. Bridge and the high professionalism of the crew, there were no casualties, although the landing was carried out with the landing gear not retracted, which in an emergency landing on water can lead to irreparable consequences. 44 passengers and crew members escaped with bruises and scratches.

Another interesting and tragic case in the history of aircraft landing on water is the episode of the hijacking of an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft by terrorists on November 23, 1996. The terrorists forced the crew to head towards Australia, but in the area Comoros aviation fuel ran out, and the crew attempted to land the plane at sea. Everything happened in calm weather, not far from the beach, the depth of the sea did not exceed half a kilometer. But during the maneuver, the plane caught on the water with its wing, fell and fell apart. Of the 175 people, 125 were killed, including the criminals who hijacked the airliner.

A comical incident occurred in 2009 when, due to geese caught in the engines during takeoff, a US Airways airliner with 150 passengers on board splashed down on the Hudson. The plane landed safely, only 5 people were injured of varying severity, one of the flight attendants was seriously injured.

Video

Cases when planes landed on water are not so few in history. And, fortunately, many of them did without large-scale destruction and great loss of life. In all cases, people's lives were saved thanks to the high professionalism and well-coordinated work of all crew members who managed to prevent the destruction of the airliner during landing and prevent panic among passengers.

Like in the "Crew", only for real!

Lyubov Klindukhova

Aloha, Maui! Plane roof blown off over Hawaii

Boeing 737-297, Aloha Airlines. April 28, 1988 Flight 243 Hilo - Honolulu (Hawaii)

Ride the fastest roller coaster in the world at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi at 240 km/h. But the passengers of this flight had to descend from a height of 7300 meters in a plane without a roof - with a hurricane wind in the face, at a speed of 530 km / h!

Short flight between cities Hawaiian Islands Hilo and Honolulu were supposed to take only 35 minutes, but at the 23rd minute, when the airliner gained the required altitude, there was an explosive decompression, the cockpit door and the roof of the Boeing over the first six rows were simply demolished. The passengers were under open sky at a temperature of -45 °C. They had not yet had time to unfasten their seat belts, which saved their lives, but the flight attendants who served drinks were scattered around the cabin.

The pilot-in-command began an emergency descent to the recommended 3,000 m in case of cabin depressurization at a speed of more than 500 km/h. Now he could slow down to 390 km / h and head to the reserve Kahului airport on the island of Maui. It was possible to contact the ground services of the airport, on the runway, the liner in distress was waiting for the doctors and the fire brigade. On approach, the left engine failed. But 11 minutes after the incident in the sky, the commander landed the plane on one right engine.

All passengers survived. On the ground, the crew missed senior flight attendant Clarabelle Lansing. At the moment when part of the body of the aircraft was torn off, it was thrown into the sky by a powerful stream of air. The body of the stewardess was not found, in memory of her, a flowering garden was planted at the airport.

The Boeing 737-297, launched in 1969, was one of the oldest aircraft in the Aloha Airlines fleet. Corrosion and multiple damage to the metal of the fuselage were named among the causes of the accident. The air carrier fully admitted its guilt in improper maintenance of the vessel.

Pilot overboard. In the skies of England

BAC 1-11, british airways. June 10, 1990 Flight 5390 Birmingham - Malaga (UK - Spain)

There is hardly a second person in the world who has had a chance to ride on the roof of an airplane. This was not done even by the most desperate Hollywood stuntmen.

Experienced aviator Tim Lancaster, with over 11,000 flight hours, was in command of the aircraft, while Alastair Atchinson was co-pilot on the flight. At 7.20 am the plane took off from Birmingham Airport and headed for sunny Spain.

Having lifted the plane into the air, the co-pilot handed over control to the commander. At 7.33 the plane was at an altitude of more than 5000 meters, the commander loosened his seat belts, and then there was a roar. The windshield from the side of the commander flew off in an unknown direction, and Tim Lancaster rushed after him, but his legs got stuck in the cockpit, and he himself was nailed by a wild wind to the body of the aircraft from the outside. Flight attendant Nigel Ogden grabbed the commander with both hands, preventing him from finally flying out the window.

The co-pilot began an emergency descent and transmitted a distress signal. The crew no longer believed that the commander was alive, but letting go, as they thought, a lifeless body, was even more dangerous, since it could get into the engine and disable the aircraft.

So they flew to the nearest airport in Southampton. Frostbitten, with broken arms, but alive, the commander was removed from the plane. The flight attendant, who heroically held him throughout the flight, also had frostbite on his face. The rest of the crew and passengers were not injured. The commander, who survived the unprecedented flight, returned to the controls of the aircraft five months later.

Passengers and crew owe their extreme adventure to a mechanic who changed the glass on the plane on the eve of this flight. He screwed the glass with the wrong bolts, made a mistake literally by a millimeter in diameter.

Saint Elmo's fire. Flight in a cloud of volcanic ash over the island of Java

Boeing 747-236B, British Airways, June 24, 1982, flight 009 London - Auckland (New Zealand)

The Boeing 747-236B had a long flight from London to New Zealand Auckland with several stops in India, Malaysia and Australia.

A few minutes after the night departure from Kuala Lumpur, something ominous began to happen to the plane. The saloon was filled with smoke. Smoking on board at that time was not prohibited, but the flight attendants could not find any smoking passengers or sources of ignition, and in the meantime the smoke became denser.

The windows in the cockpit were covered with flickering sparks. This phenomenon is known as St. Elmo's fire and can be observed on the wings of an airplane during a thunderstorm, but the weather radar did not indicate a thunderstorm front. The crew nevertheless turned on the de-icers and the “fasten seat belts” signal. The fact that the phenomenon appears not only in a thunderstorm, but also when it enters a cloud of volcanic ash, the pilots did not know. A flickering white light engulfed the entire airliner, and passengers could see flames erupting from the engines.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain of the ship. We have a small problem. All four engines stopped. We are doing our best to relaunch them. I hope this doesn't cause you too much trouble," pilot-in-command Eric Moody announced in a deadpan tone.

The co-pilot and flight engineer tried many times to restart the engines, but to no avail. In such a situation, the pilots could only rely on the aerodynamics of the aircraft: the liner flew 15 kilometers, losing one kilometer of altitude. Ahead were the mountain ranges and volcanoes of the island of Java, which had to be passed at a height of at least three and a half thousand meters. If the height cannot be maintained, then you will have to make emergency landing in the Indian Ocean.

At an altitude of 4100 meters, the fourth engine suddenly started working, and the rest came to life behind it. The plane was able to fly over the mountain range and land at the Jakarta airport. 248 passengers and 15 crew members landed unharmed on the erupting island.

On the ground, it turned out that the airliner had fallen into an ash cloud from the Galunggung volcano. On the island, 68 people died during the eruption, more than 60 thousand were evacuated. After the incident with the Boeing, it became clear how dangerous volcanic ash is for aircraft. Information about volcanic eruptions began to be promptly transmitted to aviation services.

Commander, only the Neva will save us!

Tu-124, Aeroflot, August 21, 1963, flight Tallinn - Moscow

Throughout history, there have been only a few cases where the crew and passengers remained alive when landing an airliner on the water. One of the first to do this was the pilots Viktor Mostovoy and Vasily Chechenov, who urgently splashed down the Tu-124 on the Neva in Leningrad.

On a brand new Tu-124, when taking off from Tallinn, the front landing gear jammed. And on the runway they found a dropped bolt. No matter how the crew tried to knock out the jammed landing gear by punching a hole in the fuselage, nothing helped. And without the landing gear, the plane can fall on its side during landing and crash.

They were not allowed to return to Tallinn, citing fog. From ground services an order was received to run out fuel and land the plane in Pulkovo (at that time the Shosseinaya airport was called) on an emergency unpaved runway. The landing was personally led by the airport's flight director Georgy Narbut.

Commander Viktor Mostovoy circled around the city until there was just enough fuel left to fly to the airport. The engine suddenly stalled. No fuel! And the instruments show that it is still enough. From the ground, a direct flight over the city to the airfield is allowed. Above the Admiralty, the second engine stalled. "Commander, only the Neva will save us!" - Shouted to Mostovoy co-pilot Vasily Chechenov. He served in the Marine military aviation and often landed planes on the water in a storm. Mostovoy instantly entrusted him with the landing.

The plane flew a few meters over the Alexander Nevsky bridge under construction (the workers jumped into the water) and landed between the Bolsheokhtinsky and Finlandsky bridges. From the moment the second engine stalled to splashdown on the Neva, 14 seconds passed. 45 passengers and 7 crew members got off the plane alive. A crowd of onlookers decided that they were making a movie!

The fault for the crash landing was initially placed on the pilots. Soviet technology could not act up: for the Tupolev design bureau, this could disrupt contracts for large sums. For two months, examinations were carried out, it was established that the instruments showed correctly, there really was fuel, but it did not enter the engines: when turning at a certain angle and speed, an air funnel forms in the tanks.

Information about the flight was classified, but foreign media trumpeted the feat of the pilots to the whole world, and the country's leadership had to present the crew for awards.

Tu-154, September 7, 2010, flight 516 Polyarny - Moscow

In the heyday small aviation, when there were no roads in the northern outback, but planes flew to each village, the taiga airport in Izhma received flights every day from Ukhta and Syktyvkar. Later, lost somewhere in the taiga and excluded from all navigation guides, the airport was closed and used only as a helipad.

However, the former head of the airport, Sergei Sotnikov, continued to maintain the airfield in order - he made sure that there was no debris, he drove drivers who strove to leave the tractor on the runway. And once a Tu-154 in distress with 72 passengers and 9 crew members on board successfully landed here.

The Tu-154 took off from the Polyarny airport in Yakutia and was heading to Moscow. Three and a half hours later, at an altitude of 10,600 meters, the aircraft lost power, the fuel pumps failed, the autopilot, navigation, and communications failed. The alarm about the critical remaining fuel was activated, the landing had to be completed within 30 minutes. The nearest airport, in Ukhta, is too far to fly on the rest of the fuel.

We descended to three thousand meters, passed through the clouds and saw: taiga is everywhere. Then flashed the village of Izhma, a river. The pilots were ready to try to land even on the edge of a forest or a vegetable garden. And suddenly the plane swept over the concrete strip, while the pilots had no data on the airport in this area. They made several circles over the runway that appeared out of nowhere, assessed its condition and decided to land. For the Tu-154, the runway was too short, and the plane rolled out a little beyond it, into the forest. The entire village of Izhma gathered around the liner that had fallen from the sky, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and fire engines arrived.

The pilots opened the window, leaves from the trees fell into the cockpit, and only then did they begin to realize that everything could have ended much worse.

Thanks for the safe landing should have been Sergei Sotnikov, who for many years supported runway closed airport in good condition. In 2010, he became a laureate of the Vladimir Vysotsky "Own Track" Prize - for fidelity to duty, professionalism and personal courage.

Companion. Bloody drama on board

Airliner McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30F, April 7, 1994, flight DX705 Memphis - San Jose (USA)

Oborne Calloway, a former military pilot and now a FedEx cargo flight engineer, was terrified of being fired from his job and leaving his family without money (he lied about previous flying experience on his resume, and this was about to be revealed). He decided not to wait for his dismissal, but to die at work: in this case, his ex-wife and children would have a chance at the maximum insurance - $ 2.5 million. To do this, he needed to deal with his crew and crash the plane.

He planned everything, but the day before his team exceeded the flight hours, and the crew on the flight was replaced. Calloway did not back down and flew on a reclining chair into cargo hold- such passengers in the company are called fellow travelers. With a guitar case containing hammers and a harpoon, he took his seat on the plane.

30 minutes after takeoff, Calloway attacked the crew. All three were hit by the hammers: aircraft commander David Sanders, co-pilot James Tucker and flight engineer Andrew Peterson. Tucker, with a fractured skull, held the plane in the sky while the other two tried to pin down Auborn Calloway. The pilot turned the nose of the car up, the battle rolled into the cargo hold. Only now did he manage to turn the car back to Memphis, contact the dispatchers and inform that the crew needed military intervention during landing to capture the armed criminal. Bloody footprints are everywhere in the cargo hold, but Sanders and Peterson managed to restrain the criminal until the plane landed.

Passengers on a flight from New York to Seattle had to endure an emergency splashdown on the Hudson River after an Airbus A320 was attacked by a flock of gray geese. Less than a minute after takeoff, the plane staggered, passengers saw flames bursting from the engines. The geese roasted in the engines put them out of action.

The commander of the aircraft, former military officer Chesley Sullenberger, informed the controller about the collision with a flock of birds and transmitted a distress signal. Seconds later, it became clear that he would not be able to keep the car in the air and make it to the runway. Risky, but the only way to save the crew and 150 passengers was to land on the Hudson.

The pilot turned the plane from north to south, glided onto the river without hitting any cargo ferries or the Washington Bridge, and splashed down in front of the busy 42nd Street of Manhattan. Grey-haired, but alive, the passengers climbed onto the wings of the plane. Aviation industry professionals and the press called the incident "the miracle over the Hudson."

Extra passenger. Landing with two fighters

Boeing 767, Condor Airlines, August 28, 2015, flight Las Vegas - Frankfurt

Now you can exhale and unfasten your seat belts. There will be no erupting volcanoes, no stalled engines, no pilots overboard. Only a cat, a hysterical model and two fighter jets.

Model Dashenka Giraldo and her cat caused an emergency landing of the plane, accompanied by two fighters. The girl was furious when the flight attendants took away her pet, who was flying not in a special container, but in a bag, and locked him in the toilet. The passenger demanded that the cat be returned because he could not fly in such unbearable conditions. The flight attendants politely refused, after which the girl threatened to crash the plane, citing her close ties to the mafia.

After such statements, two fighters were lifted into the air from the US Air Force Base in Colorado. They escorted the aircraft to landing in Denver. The plane was met at the airport by representatives of the FBI, connections with the mafia were not confirmed, and the air brawler was released in peace.

Aleksey Kochemasov, better known as "Pilot Lech", is a cult personality on the Internet. Once upon a time, under his LiveJournal entries, serious discussions were unfolding for hundreds of comments. However, first of all, Alexey KVS (aircraft commander) at the Pobeda airline. He rarely appears on LiveJournal, but he actively blogs on Instagram. Lenta.ru asked him the most unexpected questions about aviation that sometimes arise from passengers.

Can a pilot fall asleep while flying an aircraft?

All living people, and pilots too, so falling asleep is real. Therefore, two people are constantly in the cockpit - to control each other.

How does the autopilot work, does the pilot really not have to do anything when it is on?

The autopilot is quite a complex thing, and of course it can fly the plane and even land the plane itself, but the pilot programs it and constantly makes adjustments to it.

Does the pilot-in-command have the right to allow a passenger to enter the cockpit during the flight?

No, a passenger is not allowed in the cockpit. This is strictly prohibited. Probably, you can let passengers into the cockpit after the plane has landed, but I don’t practice this.

How do pilots go to the toilet, is it necessary to take turns?

The pilots go to the toilet in turn. Moreover, when one of them leaves the cockpit, a flight attendant always comes in and waits there for the return of the absent pilot. This is done in order to avoid an emergency situation. For example, one pilot left, and the second remained. The door closed, and the one who remained, once - and died! And what to do next?

Where does the pilot's baggage go? Is it allowed to take it to the salon?

If we fly on a business trip and take a large suitcase with us, then our things fly along with the rest of the passengers' luggage, they are simply loaded last. And so, just a small bag flies in the cockpit, of course.

Is screening pilots different from how passengers are screened?

Pilots are screened in much the same way as passengers. Frame, pass, luggage clearance.

Can pilots smuggle cheese or other delicacies into Russia that fall under the food embargo?

Products? Of course they can. But then again, if we flew in from abroad and the customs considers that we were carrying a prohibited product, then they will seize it from us, with the expected consequences (a fine, for example).

What do pilots eat on a flight?

For the commander and co-pilot, different meals of approximately the same nutritional value are loaded on board. Different nutrition is needed so that in which case you do not get poisoned by a couple.

How do pilots land planes at night or in fog when nothing is visible?

If the weather conditions are very bad, then the landing is carried out automatically.

Will the passenger be able to land the plane?

A passenger will be able to land a plane if he is a pilot and works on approximately the same type of aircraft. If this is, say, a sports aviation pilot, then he has very little chance. The flight attendant won't land the plane. For co-pilots, flying is their job, and not all of them land on their own. What to say about a person from the outside?

I once specially arranged a competition among flight attendants of all airlines. The winner was the girl who was the only one who arrived three hours before the competition and we practiced with her. Here she is, with grief in half, managed to press the right buttons. The whole trick is that the one who will say what to do from the ground knows what to say, but it’s impossible to check whether the stewardess pressed the button! And they press incorrectly exactly every other time, although they pronounce everything correctly. They poke in the wrong place.

I explain, as always, on my fingers, why none of the above-named comrades will land a real plane.

All experiments were carried out on modern simulators, on which active pilots are trained to work out actions in emergency situations that may occur in real flight (or are trained during retraining or initial training for this type of aircraft).

Modern simulators really imitate real flight as much as possible (feelings of flight, sounds, some loads, views outside the window and even smells. Not to mention the reality of the cockpit, which is an absolute copy, with full functionality). flight, from a simulated one - impossible!

The situation that is played out in such experiments is the same.

First episode:

Somewhere in the endless sky flies passenger liner. Suddenly, passengers hear the somewhat agitated voice of a nice stewardess: “Dear ladies and gentlemen, we have a small problem. Nothing dangerous, it’s just that one of the pilots’ health has deteriorated, are there any of you, a doctor and a pilot?”

The doctor, as a rule, is, but with the pilot ... How lucky.

At this time, a young man was sitting at the window, who is fanatically fond of a computer simulator of exactly the same model of the aircraft on which he is currently flying. He sits and the whole flight revels in the fact that he knows and understands what every sound means, every moment of the flight and knows exactly what will happen in the next second. And now, after several minutes of silence in the cabin, he realizes that there is no pilot on board!

The hero stands up and says that he is ready to save the world!

The young man follows the conductor and, finding himself in the kitchen one on one with the pale conductors, finds out that it turns out that not one pilot became ill, but everyone died! The plane flies on autopilot and the fate of all people is now only in his “skillful hands” and in general everything now depends only on him!

This is the standard scenario of the situation, there are no others, or with slight variations.

So what? The idiot's dream came true, the hero finds himself in the cockpit of a real airliner flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters, full of living, human souls ...

This is where the fun begins.

So, the second series:

Man is a living being, and therefore subject to emotions, and this is his weakest side. This soulless computer does not care whether it is cold or hot, dark or light, hurting someone or not. A person, voluntarily or involuntarily, will react to any external stimulus. There are certainly “James Bonds” in life, but in order to become such, these people have been constantly in the conditions in which they suddenly found themselves for decades.

When an experiment is carried out on a simulator, the subject absolutely knows and understands that regardless of the result, he will still remain alive and unharmed. This is the strongest psychological stimulant that allows the subject to concentrate as much as possible on his actions, to be extremely attentive and assiduous.

It is quite another thing when a person finds himself in a real, deadly situation.

Once in a real cockpit, a real flying plane, any "James Bond" will be confused and lose most of his "inhuman" abilities. (No options, just trust me!)

A connection is established with the earth, it turns out who is driving and from the earth they begin to lead what needs to be done in order to still save the world and get the star of the hero. (and, of course, to save your own! And this is the first thing.

The one who sits on the ground and gives commands is a master of his craft. And so he begins to speak:
- Press the button there. Pressed? What do you see? Well done!
-Now turn this knob and put 245! Well done!
And so on, on, on.
The one who sits and says what to do knows this 100% But there is absolutely no way to check whether the one who is sitting in the cabin pressed the right button! There is no doubt that a person in a stressful situation will make a mistake ... ..

The aircraft is the most complex technical device. In order to fly an airplane, people learn for YEARS! They fly constantly. Entire institutes are developing procedures and technologies that will help eliminate the erroneous actions of pilots in the cockpit. Crew interaction schemes of cross mutual control have been devised, allowing pilots to avoid stress and maintain efficiency in any flight conditions. But! Pilots still make mistakes (professional pilots who have been in the sky for many years!) press the wrong buttons, lose control of each other, in a word “mow” ... The consequences are known.

Look how beautifully masters play billiards. Watch 100,000 times how to hit correctly to pocket the ball, and then go get a cue and try to score. Will it work?

In order to be able to land the plane, even in the machine, it is not enough to know what and when to press. Hundreds of hours of real flights are needed in order to be psychologically prepared, to be calm and ready for any mode changes that may occur during the automatic approach (and they will arise - don’t go to the head!) Therefore, a simulator is one thing and a real aircraft is quite another (in which "skillful Simer"). Think about it.

Once the landing of the aircraft is learned on the simulator, the pilot proceeds to training on the real machine. Landing of the aircraft begins at the moment when the aircraft is at the starting point of the descent. In this case, a certain distance, speed and altitude must be maintained from the aircraft to the runway. The landing process requires maximum concentration from the pilot. The pilot directs the car to the start point of the runway, the nose of the aircraft is kept slightly lowered during the entire movement. Movement - strictly along the strip.

The first thing the pilot does at the very beginning of the movement to the runway is to extend the landing gear and flaps. All this is necessary, including in order to significantly reduce the speed of the aircraft. The multi-ton vehicle begins to move along the glide path - the trajectory along which the descent occurs. Using numerous instruments, the pilot constantly monitors the altitude, speed and rate of descent.

Especially important is the speed and rate of its decline. As you approach the ground, it should decrease. Do not allow too sharp a decrease in speed, as well as exceeding its level. At a three-hundred-meter height, the speed is approximately 300-340 km per hour, at a two-hundred-meter height, 200-240. The pilot can control the speed of the aircraft by applying gas, changing the angle of the flaps.

Bad weather landing

How does a plane land in strong winds? All basic actions of the pilot remain the same. However, landing an aircraft in cross or gusty winds is very difficult.

Directly near the ground, the position of the aircraft should become horizontal. In order for the touchdown to be soft, the aircraft must descend slowly, without a sharp drop in speed. Otherwise, it may hit the strip sharply. It is at this moment that bad weather in the form of wind, heavy snow can cause maximum problems for the pilot.

After touching the surface of the earth, the gas must be released. The flaps are retracted, with the help of the pedals the plane taxis to the parking lot.

Thus, the seemingly simple process of landing actually requires great piloting skills.

A US Airways passenger plane collided with a flock of geese during takeoff. Several birds got inside the engines of the Airbus 320 and disabled both engines.

The ship's commander first tried to return to the airport, but soon decided to land on the water surface of the Hudson - fortunately, the accident happened next to this wide river. In such a situation, than the river does not landing strip!

Moreover, the pilots were trained in case of an emergency landing on water, and in the cabin, as expected, there were life rafts and inflatable vests for passengers.

Chesley Selinberger is the ship's commander.

Clever pilot Chesley Selinberger accurately landed the plane on the waters of the Hudson, avoiding a collision with ships on the water. The captain of the ship warned the passengers over the speakerphone that they were about to land on the river and asked them to put on their vests.

The water even softened the landing, the liner smoothly splashed down on the waves of the river. And since the body of the aircraft is airtight, the Airbus remained on the surface of the water. And although, according to passengers, water began to seep into the cabin almost immediately, the plane stayed on the water for an hour and a half.

The aircraft essentially turned into a giant aquaplane, but only deprived of control - the powerful current of the Hudson carried it down the river. The plane crashed in the 49th street area of ​​Manhattan, and by the end of the rescue operation, the current carried the Airbus a good fifty streets down towards another East River that flows into the ocean.

To help the miraculously surviving aircraft - and its hull was completely undamaged - everyone immediately rushed river boats found in the district. Therefore, when rescue boats, police and fire protection boats arrived at the scene of the emergency, some of the passengers, who, wearing life jackets, climbed onto the wide wings of the aircraft and inflatable rafts, by that time had already raised pleasure and commercial ships and boats of various sizes to their decks.

The rescue operation was broadcast live on all US TV channels.
None of the 150 passengers and 5 crew members were seriously injured.

There are no analogues of the "Hudson miracle" in the world, the foreign press trumpeted. In fact, the world's first similar incident occurred in the Soviet Union about half a century ago in Leningrad. And landing took place at all on a free water area, but on a narrow winding Neva, moreover, with obstacles in the form of bridges.

On August 21, 1963, the Tu-124 passenger liner flew from Tallinn to Moscow, but an unexpected breakdown (the front of the landing gear jammed in the plane) forced the pilots to request permission to land in Leningrad.

In the area of ​​St. Isaac's Cathedral, the plane's second engine stalled - the only thing left to land was on the water surface of the Neva. Fire engines and ambulance brigades were then urgently brought to Pulkovo, while the plane, meanwhile, circled over the airfield, running out of fuel. On the eighth lap at the "carcass" the engine suddenly stalled, and the pilots took the liner to the through span. In the area of ​​St. Isaac's Cathedral, the plane's second engine stalled - the only thing left to land was on the water surface of the Neva.

Rapidly sweeping over the Liteiny and Bolsheokhtinsky bridges, the Tu-124 landed near the Finland railway bridge.

From here, a sinking aircraft was pulled to the shore by a steam tug passing by. The captain brought the tug to the car and shouted to the pilots: "How to hook you?" After conferring, they broke the cockpit cap and hooked the cable to the pilots' controls. The plane was pulled up to the pier near the Severny Press plant, where rafts were parked along the shore. The wing of the aircraft, bent when it hit the water, lay neatly on the rafts, forming a kind of gangway. Passengers - forty-four people, including two children - began to leave through the top hatch, holding things in their hands. They were calm. None of the passengers and crew members were injured.

The next day, the plane was lifted from the bottom and sent to the Skipper channel.

As for the crew members, they did not receive any laudatory odes and honors at that moment: six of them were then detained, and Captain Viktor Mostovoy was also fired from service. Later, the brave pilot was awarded the Order of the Red Star, the captain of the steam tug Porshin was awarded a Certificate of Honor and a watch, and the rest of the crew members were awarded medals.

Subsequently, the cockpit of the liner still served as a simulator at the Kirsanov aviation school, and the fuselage was scrapped.

And two more liners in the USSR successfully landed on the water ...

In the former USSR, in addition to the St. Petersburg story, there were two more cases of landing on water.

In the summer of 1972, in the waters of the Moscow Sea (it is also the Ivankovskoye Reservoir) in the upper reaches of the Volga, the testers checked the instruction item that there was a 37-minute time margin when the aircraft switched to emergency power supply.

The crew turned off the generators, but forgot (although it consisted of experienced pilots) that in this case the fuel is not supplied automatically - it must be pumped in manually, with fanfare.

Left without fuel, both engines stalled. The pilots had to land the plane on the water. Due to the sealed design, the Tu-134 remained afloat. The plane was pulled out, but it was no longer fit for flights. He lived out his days working as a simulator for firefighters.

Tu-134 in the Moscow Sea.

The second case occurred in 1976 with a Yak-40 near Kyiv. The co-pilot moved the engine control sticks to the "STOP" position.

Apparently, this happened by accident - he probably wanted to give a small gas, but did not calculate. After this story, a special blocking bar was installed on all aircraft, which did not allow the engines to be switched to a stop mode during the flight.

And the liner, which had to be landed right in the swamp, is still flying!

In this situation, too, there were no casualties.