A320 lands in the Hudson River, New York

[HarryW]

-crookedtail- said:

AMCDan said:

Can anyone explain "cactus"?

I believe its a result of the merger between America West and US Airways! They kept the 'cactus' callsign after dropping the 'USAir' that they used to use. They were using both for a while if wikipedia is accurate!

'Catcus' is the call sign for the airline. I like the BA call sign of 'speedbird' myself, it has a certain purpose about it.

[drivin_me_nuts]

HarryW said:

-crookedtail- said:

AMCDan said:

Can anyone explain "cactus"?

I believe its a result of the merger between America West and US Airways! They kept the 'cactus' callsign after dropping the 'USAir' that they used to use. They were using both for a while if wikipedia is accurate!

'Catcus' is the call sign for the airline. I like the BA call sign of 'speedbird' myself, it has a certain purpose about it.

so what is Virgin's?

[AMCDan]

drivin_me_nuts said:

so what is Virgin's?

"Virgin"

[Eric Mc]

HarryW said:

-crookedtail- said:

AMCDan said:

Can anyone explain "cactus"?

I believe its a result of the merger between America West and US Airways! They kept the 'cactus' callsign after dropping the 'USAir' that they used to use. They were using both for a while if wikipedia is accurate!

'Catcus' is the call sign for the airline. I like the BA call sign of 'speedbird' myself, it has a certain purpose about it.

Speedbird was the call sign for the old British Overseas Aiways Corporation (BOAC). It stemmed from the company logo which was called the "Speedbird". The Speedbird motif had originally been carried on Imperial Airways aircraft (1924 to 1940). BOAC operated from 1940 to 1974. The original BA logo also included the Speedbird sign but it was dropped for good with the introduction of the grey and blue Landor scheme in 1984. The latest scheme didn't resurrect it either so it only lives on in the radio callsign.

[jdizz]

HarryW said:

-crookedtail- said:

AMCDan said:

Can anyone explain "cactus"?

I believe its a result of the merger between America West and US Airways! They kept the 'cactus' callsign after dropping the 'USAir' that they used to use. They were using both for a while if wikipedia is accurate!

'Catcus' is the call sign for the airline. I like the BA call sign of 'speedbird' myself, it has a certain purpose about it.

I believe Speedbird was only used for concorde?

[HarryW]

MaxAndRuby said:

Munter said:

MaxAndRuby said:

HarryW said:

Strangest thing is he never called mayday or a pan

I wondered about that!

I figure when you tell the ATC that you have no thrust due to a bird strike on take off, they'll figure out that your having a bad day pretty fast.

Good point. They're quite clever chaps, so I imagine "We'll be in the Hudson" gave them a clue aswell.

I'm not sure you have fully understood why I have asked the original question (and posted other responses since the quote above). Never mind, your mocking reply indicates you obviously know the answers to questions like what goes on apart from the 1 aircraft controller speaking to the aircraft in trouble, when there is 'mayday' but it is has not been 'called', carry on and explain, I'm all ears.

I'll say it again, yes it is a mute point on this occasion, however there are always lessons to be learnt from incidents, even ones that have a happy ending.

Edited by HarryW on Friday 6th February 11:51

[Eric Mc]

jdizz said:

HarryW said:

-crookedtail- said:

AMCDan said:

Can anyone explain "cactus"?

I believe its a result of the merger between America West and US Airways! They kept the 'cactus' callsign after dropping the 'USAir' that they used to use. They were using both for a while if wikipedia is accurate!

'Catcus' is the call sign for the airline. I like the BA call sign of 'speedbird' myself, it has a certain purpose about it.

I believe Speedbird was only used for concorde?

No - see my post above.

When BA was formed in 1974, it was the result of a merger of a number of airlines. The chief ones being British European Arrways (BEA), Northeast Airlines and Cambrian Airways.
Northeast and Cambrian had already been operating under a common arrangement so they shared the same callsign which was "Albion". BEA had been using the callsign "Bealine" since ints inception in 1946. "Bealine" was dropped immediately on the merger (much to the annoyance of ex-BEA flight crew). Albion continued to be used for the former Northeast/Cambrian flights up until the early 1980s. Speedbird was used for all BA flights from then on.

These days, BA has quite a few independent franschise operators who are not actually "owned" by BA and these airlines use their own callsigns.

[HarryW]

Eric Mc said:

jdizz said:

HarryW said:

-crookedtail- said:

AMCDan said:

Can anyone explain "cactus"?

I believe its a result of the merger between America West and US Airways! They kept the 'cactus' callsign after dropping the 'USAir' that they used to use. They were using both for a while if wikipedia is accurate!

'Catcus' is the call sign for the airline. I like the BA call sign of 'speedbird' myself, it has a certain purpose about it.

I believe Speedbird was only used for concorde?

No - see my post above.

When BA was formed in 1974, it was the result of a merger of a number of airlines. The chief ones being British European Arrways (BEA), Northeast Airlines and Cambrian Airways.
Northeast and Cambrian had already been operating under a common arrangement so they shared the same callsign which was "Albion". BEA had been using the callsign "Bealine" since ints inception in 1946. "Bealine" was dropped immediately on the merger (much to the annoyance of ex-BEA flight crew). Albion continued to be used for the former Northeast/Cambrian flights up until the early 1980s. Speedbird was used for all BA flights from then on.

These days, BA has quite a few independent franschise operators who are not actually "owned" by BA and these airlines use their own callsigns.

Strangely enough concorde was unique and used 'speedbird concorde' I believe.

[dougc]

I remember hearing low numbers used for Concorde - Speedbird 2 Concorde for example but never without a number.

[Eric Mc]

HarryW said:

MaxAndRuby said:

Munter said:

MaxAndRuby said:

HarryW said:

Strangest thing is he never called mayday or a pan

I wondered about that!

I figure when you tell the ATC that you have no thrust due to a bird strike on take off, they'll figure out that your having a bad day pretty fast.

Good point. They're quite clever chaps, so I imagine "We'll be in the Hudson" gave them a clue aswell.

I'm not sure you have fully understood why I have asked the original question (and posted other responses since the quote above). Never mind you, your mocking reply indicates you obviously know the answers like what goes on apart from the 1 aircraft controller speaking to the aircraft in question when there is 'mayday' but it is not called, carry on and explain, I'm all ears.

I'll say it again, yes it is a mute point on this occasion, however there are always lessons to be learnt from incidents, even ones that have a happy ending.

Sorry for being pedantic, but a "mute" point is a silent point. I think you might be referring to a "moot" point.

Back on topic, there is no obligation to call "May Day" or "Pan" during an emergency. My feeling is that things were happening so rapidly that the flight crew weree more concerned in sorting out the aircraft for an emergency landing than they were is using the absolutely correct emergency radio procedures.
Since the aircraft had just left the airport it would seem that they would still have been talking to the original controller or at least the second controller in teh chain (departures) so there was no need for ATC to work out which controller was going to handle the emergency. In other words, he hadn't been handed over to an en-route controller and therfore didn't need to be handed back to a chap in the control tower.

[ninja-lewis]

Jimbeaux said:

s3fella said:

I remember hearing Jack Dee going on about how cool Americans sound under pressure!

He cited "Hey Houston, we have a problem" as an example..........

On a UK spaceship " fooking hell, the foking rocket's fooked and we're all gunna die!!!"

Edited by s3fella on Thursday 5th February 18:05

Give yourselves credit, the British are the epedimy of cool under fire.

The BBC had a former BA pilot on to discuss the transcripts. He was the captain during the Jakarta Incident, when a 747 from London to New Zealand lost all four engines after flying into a cloud of volcanic ash. He informed the passengers:

Captain Moody said:

'Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get it under control. I trust you are not in too much distress.'

[Eric Mc]

ninja-lewis said:

Jimbeaux said:

s3fella said:

I remember hearing Jack Dee going on about how cool Americans sound under pressure!

He cited "Hey Houston, we have a problem" as an example..........

On a UK spaceship " fooking hell, the foking rocket's fooked and we're all gunna die!!!"

Edited by s3fella on Thursday 5th February 18:05

Give yourselves credit, the British are the epedimy of cool under fire.

The BBC had a former BA pilot on to discuss the transcripts. He was the captain during the Jakarta Incident, when a 747 from London to New Zealand lost all four engines after flying into a cloud of volcanic ash. He informed the passengers:

Captain Moody said:

'Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get it under control. I trust you are not in too much distress.'

Captain Eric Moody.

His book on nthe incident is well worth a read.

[s3fella]

Speedbird used for all BA, "Concorde" often added by Pilot in particular to emphasise who it was just on case controller missed it. Concorde had some interesting things it could and could not do AC performance wise, not great at low speed for example, but pretty quick and of course flew high!

So "Concorde" was sometimes added to a callsign just to remind controller not to ask it to do anything it oculd not, but use its performace where necessary. Although as Concorde was not allowed to go supersonic over land, it was only ever Oceanic control (procedural) that got it going flat out!

Its interesting how cool everyone on live RT sounds in these incidents, even busy sectors, to come accross ass calm and in control is extremely important! but if you ever hear recordings of off air talk and communcication in a cockpit or on an ATC suite, it shows how busy and stressed these guys do get!

Edited by s3fella on Friday 6th February 13:01

[croyde]

ninja-lewis said:

Jimbeaux said:

s3fella said:

I remember hearing Jack Dee going on about how cool Americans sound under pressure!

He cited "Hey Houston, we have a problem" as an example..........

On a UK spaceship " fooking hell, the foking rocket's fooked and we're all gunna die!!!"

Edited by s3fella on Thursday 5th February 18:05

Give yourselves credit, the British are the epedimy of cool under fire.

The BBC had a former BA pilot on to discuss the transcripts. He was the captain during the Jakarta Incident, when a 747 from London to New Zealand lost all four engines after flying into a cloud of volcanic ash. He informed the passengers:

Captain Moody said:

'Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get it under control. I trust you are not in too much distress.'

I guy I work with from time to time was on that flight. They all get together for a party every year.

[heebeegeetee]

Eric Mc said:

ninja-lewis said:

Jimbeaux said:

s3fella said:

I remember hearing Jack Dee going on about how cool Americans sound under pressure!

He cited "Hey Houston, we have a problem" as an example..........

On a UK spaceship " fooking hell, the foking rocket's fooked and we're all gunna die!!!"

Edited by s3fella on Thursday 5th February 18:05

Give yourselves credit, the British are the epedimy of cool under fire.

The BBC had a former BA pilot on to discuss the transcripts. He was the captain during the Jakarta Incident, when a 747 from London to New Zealand lost all four engines after flying into a cloud of volcanic ash. He informed the passengers:

Captain Moody said:

'Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get it under control. I trust you are not in too much distress.'

Captain Eric Moody.

His book on nthe incident is well worth a read.

He was on 5live talking about what had happened to him on the day after the Hudson river incident. he was gobsmacked over what the American pilot had managed to do.

[Crimson Tide]

Eric Mc said:

"Bealine" was dropped immediately on the merger (much to the annoyance of ex-BEA flight crew).

Brussels Airlines now use 'Beeline' with the prefix DAT. Don't know if there is any connection there.

Eric Mc said:

Back on topic, there is no obligation to call "May Day" or "Pan" during an emergency.

A US pilot told me that Mayday isn't used in the States. You are either 'declaring an emergency', or you aren't. Don't know how accurate that is, but he is a professional.

[fatboy b]

Crimson Tide said:

Eric Mc said:

"Bealine" was dropped immediately on the merger (much to the annoyance of ex-BEA flight crew).

Brussels Airlines now use 'Beeline' with the prefix DAT. Don't know if there is any connection there.

Eric Mc said:

Back on topic, there is no obligation to call "May Day" or "Pan" during an emergency.

A US pilot told me that Mayday isn't used in the States. You are either 'declaring an emergency', or you aren't. Don't know how accurate that is, but he is a professional.

Mayday is used in the US. It's an emergency situation, where as a panpan is a more of an urgent situation. i.e. Mayday - I'm out of fuel. Panpan - I'm I'm getting low on fuel.

[srebbe64]

Eric Mc said:

ninja-lewis said:

Jimbeaux said:

s3fella said:

I remember hearing Jack Dee going on about how cool Americans sound under pressure!

He cited "Hey Houston, we have a problem" as an example..........

On a UK spaceship " fooking hell, the foking rocket's fooked and we're all gunna die!!!"

Edited by s3fella on Thursday 5th February 18:05

Give yourselves credit, the British are the epedimy of cool under fire.

The BBC had a former BA pilot on to discuss the transcripts. He was the captain during the Jakarta Incident, when a 747 from London to New Zealand lost all four engines after flying into a cloud of volcanic ash. He informed the passengers:

Captain Moody said:

'Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get it under control. I trust you are not in too much distress.'

Captain Eric Moody.

His book on nthe incident is well worth a read.

Good plug for your book Eric! It explains your knowledge of all things aeronautical!

[Simpo Two]

Jimbeaux said:

Give yourselves credit, the British are the epedimy of cool under fire.

'Epitome', old chap

Edited by Simpo Two on Saturday 7th February 12:24

[Eric Mc]

srebbe64 said:

Eric Mc said:

ninja-lewis said:

Jimbeaux said:

s3fella said:

I remember hearing Jack Dee going on about how cool Americans sound under pressure!

He cited "Hey Houston, we have a problem" as an example..........

On a UK spaceship " fooking hell, the foking rocket's fooked and we're all gunna die!!!"

Edited by s3fella on Thursday 5th February 18:05

Give yourselves credit, the British are the epedimy of cool under fire.

The BBC had a former BA pilot on to discuss the transcripts. He was the captain during the Jakarta Incident, when a 747 from London to New Zealand lost all four engines after flying into a cloud of volcanic ash. He informed the passengers:

Captain Moody said:

'Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get it under control. I trust you are not in too much distress.'

Captain Eric Moody.

His book on nthe incident is well worth a read.

Good plug for your book Eric! It explains your knowledge of all things aeronautical!

If only!

My book will be entitled - "Lost Balance - the Near Tragedy of an Unreconciled Bank Account". It will tell the tale of how a brave accountant saved the day by keeping his head under pressure and finding his 2p difference before the afternoon tea and biscuits arrived on his desk.