Why did Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 get torn into pieces when attempting a water landing, but US Airways Flight 1549 was able to gently land in the Hudson with a little damage?
Ethiopian 961 had several factors which contributed to it being torn into pieces. The first was that the landing happened in the ocean vs a relatively calm river. While Sully’s landing can be appropriately described as a miracle, the Ethiopian crew had a far more difficult task. In the ocean, waves can be quite high, causing the water surface to be choppy. If we are thinking of the water surface as the “runway,” while the US Airways crew had the benefit of a glassy smooth water surface, the Ethiopian crew’s “runway” was one that had 15 foot high hills. You’d be hard-pressed to land the airplane in one piece.
The second was that the captain was actively fighting hijackers in the cockpit. I read a report that the left bank at which Ethiopian entered the water was caused by one of the hijackers panicking and turning the control column hard to the left seconds before impact. Not only is landing an aircraft on the ocean hard enough in itself, but doing it while you’re fighting three guys who clearly want you dead? Count me out of that one.
Ethiopian also had the disadvantage of not being able to lower their flaps, resulting in a much higher landing speed. While manageable on normal approaches, remember that Ethiopian was essentially trying to make a belly landing on a runway that had 15 foot high hills all the way down. Again, not ideal. Finally, Ethiopian hit a coral reef after landing in the water. While unlucky, that’s the risk you run when making a forced landing in the ocean, or as a matter of fact, any uncontrolled surface. All things considered, the Ethiopian crew did a fantastic job. While many people died as a result of the crash, you’d be hard-pressed to find any one who had fault with what the crew did in a pretty hopeless situation.
