Originally Posted by
HermannGraf
But this crew was also very lucky, lucky that they had enough altitude to reach the Hudson, lucky that it was day time, that the Hudson was calm and that the A320 like the E190 must be one of the best gliders among Airline jets as it is impossible to stall. They do not have a stickshaker as it is not necessary because they have a system that trims it to prevent it from stalling so if you trim it up when not having power the airplane itself will keep lowest possible flying speed until it hits the ground (or water) not that the slowest flying speed is always the best glide speed but it takes away the problem of getting to slow and worrying about stalling when having to manuver to reach your landing spot, it also gives kind of a secuirty and gives you more time to concentrate on calculating your landing spot......... .....the system is perfect for landing with no engines. I wonder if the media know this.
Not taking away from Sully AND THE CREW that they did an excellent job.
We will all have to wait for more info. However, on the assumption that they lost both motors completely, they would be in the emergency electrical configuration (RAT was reported as deployed which lends credence to this). Therefore, the "magic" you refer to would not be available. Hydraulics would be provided via the RAT and the Blue hydraulic system. Flight controls would be in Alternate Law, not Normal Law which you alluded to in your post. Sully had a degraded PFD that would have stall speed indicated, but both FACs were offline (unless he eeset FAC1) and in Alternate Law, the aircraft can be stalled.
Outstanding job by everyone in the air and on the ground/water!
Lee