Tag: Wired.com

“The Big Bitch” and the Little Plane That Couldn’t

Photo by Stephen Mallon via Wired.com

Matthew Schechmeister wrote an interesting story for Wired.com which documents the marine salvage operations undertaken by Weeks Marine after USAir flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009.  (The Unlikely Events of a Water Landing: New Photos From Flight 1549)

Accompanying the article are some great images taken by Stephen Mallon, a photographer who specializes in industrial subjects and who was the only photographer who had exclusive access to the marine salvage operations. Interestingly, there’s an editor’s note stating: “Some of these images have been altered by Stephen Mallon to remove the US Airways logo at the company’s request.” Come on USAir, NTSB and AIG, do you really think that we wouldn’t notice?

Photo by Stephen Mallon via Wired.com

Check out Wired.com for this interesting story and some great images and got to Stephen Mallon’s website for more of his work.

Share this post :

USAir 1549 Flight Simulation with Air Traffic Control Audio

Wired.com’s Autopia blog posted 5 amazing simulations of USAir 1549 water landing in the Hudson River. This one’s integrated the actual air traffic control audio.

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imDFSnklB0k]
YouTube – Hudson River Plane Landing (US Airways 1549) Animation with Audio

Here’s another from the BBC that reports that USAir 1549 came perilously  close to another plane as it banked left over Manhattan and headed down the Hudson River.

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G2TLqxWM04]
YouTube – COCKPIT VIEW OF HUDSON RIVER FLIGHT | US Airways Airbus A320 Flight 1549 pilot’s view

These were reportedly made with Microsoft’s popular Flight Simulator.

I’m always amazed by how cool, calm and collected air traffic control remains as an emergency unfolds.

Share this post :

This Day In Maritime History: A Stove Boat Begets A Whale of a Tale

Gregory Peck as Ahab in Moby-Dick

Wired.com reminds us that November 20, 1820 marks the real life event that inspired one of the classics of American literature, Moby-Dick.

The story of the Essex was the inspiration for a young Herman Melville who himself served time at sea on similar whaleships. More recently the Essex story was chronicled in nonfiction fashion by Nathaniel Phlibrick in his award winning book, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex .

From Wired.com:

The Essex had taken its share of whales and on Nov. 20 appeared ready to take a few more when a pod was sighted off the starboard beam.

The ship’s three remaining whaleboats — one had been destroyed by a whale’s flukes during an earlier hunt — were dispatched for the kill. As the harpooning began, First Mate Owen Chase, commanding one of the whaleboats, looked back and saw a large sperm whale, which he estimated at 85 feet, approaching the Essex.

As he watched helplessly, the whale propelled itself into the ship with great force. Some crewmen on board were knocked off their feet by the collision, and Chase watched in disbelief as the whale drew back and rammed the ship again. This time the Essex was holed below the waterline, and doomed.

The crew organized what provisions they could and two days later abandoned ship aboard the three whaleboats. Twenty men left the Essex. Eight would ultimately survive the harrowing ordeal that played out over the next three months.

Share this post :