Just thought I'd share this little feel-good article from our company newsletter.Honeywell’s Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), a device which provides power when main aircraft engines are not running, played a critical role in the emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in New York’s Hudson River on Thursday, January 15. Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger III maneuvered the plane en route from New York’s La Guardia airport to Charlotte, North Carolina, to glide approximately 3,000 feet without power and splash down slowly in the river, according to The Wall Street Journal. All 155 people on board the flight survived.
The article later states, “The generators that routinely provide electricity weren't available because they are driven by the aircraft's engines – which weren't putting out sufficient power after apparently having ingested several geese. But the plane's Auxiliary Power Unit – made by Honeywell International – was operating during the descent and gave the pilot full use of the jet's flight-control system, according to a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board and other people familiar with the details.”
Separately, The Wall Street Journal article prompted a man who was on board flight 1549 to email Honeywell leadership to express his gratitude because our APU was in operation during descent. “You can imagine how pleased I am to report that I and everyone else on the flight survived and got a second chance! A special thank you from (my) family to all the great employees at Honeywell who do what they do day-in and day-out.”
I don't think enough can be said about the skill of that pilot.
