Bring Aviation to Elementary Schools

As part of The Foundation’s commitment to promote aviation careers, we’ve decided to work with disadvantaged schools in the New Jersey area initially, to educate kids about what it takes to become a pilot. We are planning to take this message to the schools beginning in September 2009. As we tried to come up with creative ideas and the best way to present the information, we discovered a New Jersey base company that creates educational materials for kids. CATAVIA KIDS was created by Teresa Villareal, an aeronautical engineer, who attended MIT, and has an impressive resume, working with Boeing for many years, she became aviation consultant before deciding she wanted to start her own company to educate kids about aviation. After we contacted Teresa, she was enthusiastic about we were doing and offered to donate copies of her Black Box CD ROM. Her award winning Black Box CD ROM teaches kids how airplanes fly, how air traffic control works, as well as the basics of flying, and recognizing different aircraft. No CD ROM would be fun for kids if it didn’t have games and prizes for completing various tasks. We are so grateful for CATAVIA KIDS sharing this technology with us.

We also discovered a great book for the really little kids called “Amelia and Emily Go for a Ride’. This children’s book is based on a flight Amelia Earhart took with Eleanor Roosevelt, a great book for inspiring young girls. There will probably always be fewer minorities and women in aviation. But what we’ve noticed in the seven years we have operated The Foundation is that we need to inspire young kids, so they realize if they are interested in becoming a pilot, they can achieve their goal, no matter what neighborhood they are from. Most pilots I have met, including my husband, knew they wanted to fly when they were really young. We want to try to make an impact as soon as we can. I want to see more minorities and women in aviation. And we need you – If you are a pilot who would like to make a difference in a child’s life – to give us a call, to help us out with our awareness program. One school visit every couple of months is all we ask. Try to remember when you were a kid how much it would have meant to have a “real pilot” come and talk to your school. It’s time to pay it forward.

US Airways Flight 1549, The Hudson Landing

I was watching some of the video recordings made by passengers on US Airways Flight 1549 (Hudson landing) and I was absolutely astonished… the electricity seemed to be working, the flaps were configured and the airplane looked like it was in a somewhat “normal” configuration. Flight 1549 was cleared for takeoff at 3:24:54. Two minutes and seven seconds later the airplane impacted a flock of birds and lost thrust on both engines. Three minutes and twenty nine seconds later the airplane touched down in the Hudson. That’s not a lot of time! Speaking from my experience flying the DC-10, there are a number of tasks that have to be completed to ditch the aircraft after takeoff. If you lose all the engines the aircraft has no source of power until the pilot places the aircraft on emergency power. This restores a limited number of instruments needed to fly the aircraft. The next issue is determining what engines you have left. Looking at the engine gauges you must assess whether they are ‘windmilling’ or if they are seized up. If the engines are not windmilling, you no longer have any hydraulic power. This means your airplane is a rock; you don’t have flight controls. Some airplanes have an Air Driven Generator (ADG) which is a small propeller that hangs down from the bottom of the aircraft. The propeller will spin in the wind and produce electricity necessary to power your auxiliary hydraulic pump. This provides just enough hydraulic power to restore flight controls. What’s next? Well, meanwhile you’re probably declaring an emergency with ATC, looking for a place to land and trying to restart an engine. You also want to start the Auxiliary Power Unit, which is an onboard generator used for backup power. You must also know and fly your best glide speed for your current weight. The gear should be up. The flaps and slats need to be configured to their normal landing position without over-tasking the hydraulic system. After all this, you probably have about 10 seconds to think about how you’re going to land the aircraft in the water with no engine thrust and minimal flight control authority.

As you can see, if you haven’t rehearsed these procedures before, its going to be even harder to do them in three minutes and thirty seconds. One thing that caught my attention during Captain Sullenberger’s interviews was his mention of the training he received which prepared him for this event. I am curious, how often do airliners practice a crash landing after takeoff in the simulator? How often is ditching discussed?

Christina Croy, KC-10 Pilot, USAF