the plane crashed into birds

[jon1jt]

Plane Crashes In The Hudson River,
155 passengers pulled to safety.
Cause of crash,
a flock of birds.
Probably swallows.

No terrorists.
No global wars,
those anxious to persist.
This one’s a separate,
standalone sort
of thing.

I should like to go on
decorating
your minds with more details,
but refer you instead to
YouTube
if you haven’t already been there
---I have,
while I go erase the rest of the
notes for this poem

that had something to do
about traces of mustard on lips,
cheap crashing plates of spaghetti.
The passengers who ran
into the sh itter
and held hands,
listening through to the black side
of twilight…or paradise,
I’m not sure.

[blp]

Very nice.

[kiz_paws]

jon, I heard about the crash this afternoon -- terrible! But anyhow, I'll comment on the poem later, kay?

Stay cool. :(

[Virgil]

What a magnificent moment today on the Hudson. I am really proud of the New Yorkers that acted so quickly and smoothly to rescue the passengers. What a moment to remember. What a pilot, a 30 year veteran, an ex-fighter pilot, God he had nerve. A lot of heros all around.

[jon1jt]

What a magnificent moment today on the Hudson. I am really proud of the New Yorkers that acted so quickly and smoothly to rescue the passengers. What a moment to remember. What a pilot, a 30 year veteran, an ex-fighter pilot, God he had nerve. A lot of heros all around.

I suppose you can call it a magnificent moment the airplane having been taken down by a few birds caught in its engines. Birds who happened to be minding their own business, mind you. Just imagine the crap engineering and safety that go into planes, finally exposed.

The pilot had nerve? Aw c'mon there it goes again. The NY papers all at it gloating, and here you are like a tape recorder reading off tomorrow's headlines. :rolleyes:

I'm tired of New Yorkers always kissing the rescue worker's a ss. That's what they do, rescue people. They're paid or volunteer. Let's call it a noble profession.

Expect another American blockbuster film, folks. :rolleyes:

[Virgil]

IJust imagine the crap engineering and safety that go into planes, finally exposed.


Actually I saw on the news that those plane engines are designed to take the impact of a couple of birds at once, but apparently there was a overload that occured in this instance. Statistically you are supposed to be safer on a plane than in a car. I believe that and I bet it's not even close.

A lot of the rescuers were non rescue boats that happened to be near by.

[dramasnot6]

Thank you for writing a poem on this!
Those poor geese.

[jon1jt]

Actually I saw on the news that those plane engines are designed to take the impact of a couple of birds at once, but apparently there was a overload that occured in this instance. Statistically you are supposed to be safer on a plane than in a car. I believe that and I bet it's not even close.

A lot of the rescuers were non rescue boats that happened to be near by.

I've heard that statistic before, packaged and sold by the airline industry no doubt.

Think about it, Virge---there are a gazillion billion cars on the road compared to airplane traffic. Do the math. And cars don't have to worry about running into birds, at most some poop on your windshield. Better than that toxic barrel known as the Hudson River.

[TheFifthElement]

Cool poem jon, I'm impressed how quickly you got this down. Very natural. I especially like this part:


I should like to go on
decorating
your minds with more details,
but refer you instead to
YouTube
if you haven’t already been there,
I have---
while I go erase the rest of the
notes for this poem

I understand what you're saying here:

I'm tired of New Yorkers always kissing the rescue worker's a ss. That's what they do, rescue people. They're paid or volunteer. Let's call it a noble profession.

but I don't think you need to single out New York, it happens all over the place. How many news stories about soldiers 'dying for their countries' and, don't get me wrong, I think it sucks whenever anyone dies doing their job, it upsets me. But that's the thing isn't it? Doing their job. Just like the guy who falls into a machine in a factory making spares for cars, but it doesn't hit the news and there's no medals and no awards for them. And those civilians that the soldier killed: didn't they die 'for their country' too? Where's that on the news? I don't think that soldiers have an easy job but they do go into it knowing that they could die in the line of duty. And they know that they might have to kill people too and they're prepared to do it. I couldn't do that. And rescue workers know it's their job to rescue people. The same can't be said of those factory workers, or civilians, or office workers, or engineers, or scientists and so on but they still risk themselves and some die doing their job too. How forgetful we are.

But ace to see a plane crash where everyone gets out alive. I find that heartening. The pilot did his job: credit him that. And he didn't die doing it, so that's a good day. Every day is a good day when people aren't dying doing their jobs.

Poor shredded geese :(

[SleepyWitch]

I suppose you can call it a magnificent moment the airplane having been taken down by a few birds caught in its engines. Birds who happened to be minding their own business, mind you. Just imagine the crap engineering and safety that go into planes, finally exposed.


er, birds have always been known as a hazard in aviation. so I don't think it's a matter of crap engineering that's finally exposed. Virgil will be able to explain it better but I think the problem is that those turbine engine thingies suck in the birds... Anyways, I bet they were terrorist birds :D It's a shame they got shredded, because this way they can't be tried and punished anymore :)

nah, seriously, I like your poem a lot :)
especially these lines, but also the last two stanzas

Cause of crash,
a flock of birds.

[kiz_paws]

This is a robust poem ! ;)

You seem to sigh when you say
No terrorists.
No global wars,
those anxious to persist.
This one’s a separate,
stand-alone sort
of thing.This made me smile, I liked how you put it.


that had something to do
about traces of mustard on lips,
cheap crashing plates of spaghetti.
The passengers who ran
into the sh itter
and held hands,
listening through to the black side
of twilight…or paradise,
I’m not sure.
I could see the mustard and hear the crashing plates; no, those CHEAP crashing plates, I loved that!

[jon1jt]

Cool poem jon, I'm impressed how quickly you got this down. Very natural. I especially like this part:



I understand what you're saying here:

Thank you for saying that, fifth.


Kiz, Sleeps...I go to sleep better tonight knowing you dig my little pome here. Thank you too.

[Silas Thorne]

Great poem, most of it. :) I love the 'probably swallows' phrase, and the section fifthelement just addressed, but I don't 'feel' the second section, with the 'those anxious to persist' line, or really get it. Maybe you could have reworded this bit. Just me that thinks this, probably. :)

[Riesa]

I do like this, especially :


I should like to go on
decorating
your minds with more details,

I would love this in any poem, but it's so awfully sinister here,
anticipating the news at nine.

[ClaesGefvenberg]

Just imagine the crap engineering and safety that go into planes, finally exposed.Oh, I don't know about that: Nothing would be easier than designing a bird strike proof aircraft. The only problem is that it would be too heavy to get off the ground, as the forces involved are so great that it would have to be built like a tank. Besides, jet engines do ingest birds and often keep running in spite of quite severe damage. From what I have heard the engines took a bunch of geese this time, and events seem to indicate that this was a bit more than they could handle. Hardly surprising, is it?

As for the poem: Nice.... :thumbs_up

/Claes

[Pendragon]

The poem caught the moment very well, I think. Great imagery. Try not to ruin it with headlines and arguments. A poem catches a moment, the headlines give the before and after, and arguments add nothing...

[Virgil]

Thought this might be pertinent.



Hero pilot learned to fly as boy in North Texas
The Associated Press

Chesley B. Sullenberger III spent practically his whole life preparing for the five-minute crucible that was US Airways Flight 1549.

He got his pilot’s license at 14, piloted a North Texas crop-duster at 15, was named best aviator in his class at the Air Force Academy, flew fighter jets, investigated air disasters, mastered glider flying and even studied the psychology of how cockpit crews behave in a crisis.

When the ultimate test came on a descent over the Hudson River, he spoke into the intercom only once and gave perhaps the most terrifying instruction a pilot can give — "Brace for impact" — with remarkable calm.

And as the 150 passengers of Flight 1549 marveled at their hero pilot’s skill and cool head, they learned what friends and relatives of Sullenberger’s say they have known all along.

"This is someone who has not just spent his life flying airplanes, but has actually dug very deeply into what makes these things work, and I think he proved it," said Robert Bea, a civil engineer who has known Sullenberger for a year.

"He is, how should I call it, a humble man," he added. "But he is damned smart."

Denison Mayor Robert Brady, who graduated from Denison High in 1969 with Sullenberger, says the future pilot was in the "brainiac clique . . . the kind of guy you wanted to sit behind in class so you could cheat off him." [SNIP]

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1148768.html

[Virgil]

Oh here is another...


US Airways Pilot Finds Sudden Fame After Safe Landing

By SUSAN CAREY and ANA CAMPOY
President Bush telephoned him. T-shirts recommending he be drafted as Secretary of Transportation are for sale online. Facebook has a fan club dedicated to him.

Chesley B. Sullenberger III, the 57-year-old US Airways pilot who landed a jetliner on the Hudson River Thursday, is an overnight American hero. Known to one and all as "Sully," the pilot is winning televised praise from survivors of the splash landing. The airline's pilots union is commending him for accounting for all the passengers and being the last man off the sinking jetliner.

A Politico blogger mooted the idea of nominating Sully for the New York Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton. TMZ.com is letting people vote on whether they would choose "beefcake" Hugh Jackman or "a bona fide hero" Capt. Sullenberger. The pilot's flying finesse is the hot topic in offices, restaurants and shops across the nation. His likeness, an avuncular white-haired gent in a dark uniform, is everywhere.

The public wants to know how he and other crew members managed to bring the plane down gently and evacuate 150 passengers without major injuries or deaths. But the aviator remains out of sight for now. His public will have to wait to hear the story in his words.

For now, Mr. Sullenberger is huddled with accident investigators in New York, helping them understand how the jetliner lost engine power and why it ditched in the Hudson River. This is what federal safety rules require, and Capt. Sullenberger understands rules quite well after attending the U.S. Air Force Academy, putting in seven years as an Air Force fighter pilot and then flying for US Airways for the past 28 years.

In his long aviation career, the pilot has himself helped investigate several airline accidents, been a member of an industry group that helped improve airline procedures and training for emergency aircraft evacuations, and co-authored a technical paper of crew decision-making errors.

He also is a glider pilot, which could help explain the long, smooth descent of the powerless plane over the Hudson. [SNIP]

Oh i say we make him an honary memeber of lit net. :D Just to bug Jon. :p

[jon1jt]

The poem caught the moment very well, I think. Great imagery. Try not to ruin it with headlines and arguments. A poem catches a moment, the headlines give the before and after, and arguments add nothing...


Good point, Pen. I didn't really feel I was arguing for or against anything as much as I was stymied by the thought of the media overload and how that filtered its way into the poem, changing the direction of my writing altogether. Whether that's a good or bad thing you'll have to decide.




Oh, I don't know about that: Nothing would be easier than designing a bird strike proof aircraft. The only problem is that it would be too heavy to get off the ground, as the forces involved are so great that it would have to be built like a tank. Besides, jet engines do ingest birds and often keep running in spite of quite severe damage. From what I have heard the engines took a bunch of geese this time, and events seem to indicate that this was a bit more than they could handle. Hardly surprising, is it?

As for the poem: Nice.... :thumbs_up

/Claes


Hey claes thanks for reading poem. I'm glad that you're defending the industry without waving the American flag.

So you're telling me that the USA could put a man on the moon but some billion dollar companies like Lockeed Martin and Boeing can't stop a few flying birds from getting into their jet engines??

To Virgil and other flag-waving Americans, Plato was right when he said:


Everything that deceives may be said to enchant.

[ClaesGefvenberg]

Hey claes thanks for reading poem. I'm glad that you're defending the industry without waving the American flag.Perhaps because I'm not American. ;) On the other hand I didn't wave the Swedish one either. I was rather voicing an opinion as an engineer.


So you're telling me that the USA could put a man on the moon but some billion dollar companies like Lockeed Martin and Boeing can't stop a few flying birds from getting into their jet engines?? Certainly. There are few geese in space, but I remember the piece of foam that punched a hole in the space shuttle.

/Claes

[jon1jt]

Perhaps because I'm not American. ;) On the other hand I didn't wave the Swedish one either. I was rather voicing an opinion as an engineer.

Ahhhhh, speaking in defense of your fellow engineers, I see. ;)


Certainly. There are few geese in space, but I remember the piece of foam that punched a hole in the space shuttle.

I thought it was an O-Ring. Or was that the Challenger that the army of engineers didn't want to take responsibility for. :D

[firefangled]

I've heard that statistic before, packaged and sold by the airline industry no doubt.

Think about it, Virge---there are a gazillion billion cars on the road compared to airplane traffic. Do the math. And cars don't have to worry about running into birds, at most some poop on your windshield. Better than that toxic barrel known as the Hudson River.

Great poem Jon!

Speaking of what runs into cars...around NC it's deer, quite a few times every year. It happens enough that when they are rutting, driving in the country needs close attention.

[jon1jt]

Great poem Jon!

Speaking of what runs into cars...around NC it's deer, quite a few times every year. It happens enough that when they are rutting, driving in the country needs close attention.


Thanks Fire for reading. I read your poem earlier I wanted to give it another read before commenting.

Deer are a big problem for drivers where I live in upstate NY. I learned from the locals about "deer insurance," the average repair cost for hitting a deer coming at over 3K, but most of the time the car is unrepairable anyway.

[kiz_paws]

Deer are a big problem for us, too. But a MOOSE can completely write your auto off....

And kill ya, might I add... :sick:

[Virgil]

I have no idea what this incident has to do with flag waving? None what so ever. I guess there are people in the world that are insecure.

[jon1jt]

I have no idea what this incident has to do with flag waving? None what so ever. I guess there are people in the world that are insecure.

:lol::lol:LMFAO!!!! You're the man, my brother!

[ClaesGefvenberg]

Ahhhhh, speaking in defense of your fellow engineers, I see. ;)Yes in a way, and maybe even more in defence of the laws of physics. :) Nothing is ever entirely safe, of course.
I thought it was an O-Ring. Or was that the Challenger that the army of engineers didn't want to take responsibility for. :DThe busted O-ring destroyed Challenger, and Columbia had a hole punched in the leading edge of the left wing during takeoff, which caused it to disintegrate on reentry.

/Claes

[firefangled]

Deer are a big problem for us, too. But a MOOSE can completely write your auto off....

And kill ya, might I add... :sick:

Yes, indeed, but Moose and Squirrel are the vorst...:D

[kiz_paws]

Yes, indeed, but Moose and Squirrel are the vorst...:D
D'oh!! Its Rocky and Bullwinkle time ... YAY! :lol:

Sorry Jon, we are truly hijacking your lovely pome thread! But here's some popcorn, sit right down and catch some of these epic cartoons, eh? :p

[jekan blazer]

nice poem...

[Virgil]

Jon, even your hero President Obama called the pilot a hero. ;)

[jon1jt]

Jon, even your hero President Obama called the pilot a hero. ;)


:lol::lol:Touche, captain!


Kiz: Not to worry, usually I'm the one sabotaging my own thread. :p