The Bird-Herding BOT
Birds!” U.S. Airways Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger exclaimed after first seeing the flock of more than a dozen Canadian geese. The large birds’ wings were extended in flight, but the jet airplane was traveling so fast it looked as if the birds weren’t even moving. Rapidly filling the plane’s large windshield, they reminded Sully of the threatening crows, seagulls, and sparrows featured in Alfred Hitchcock’s scary 1963 movie The Birds.
Thump. Thud. Thump. The birds struck the airplane in quick succession, hitting its nose, wings, and engines.
On this cold, clear afternoon of January 15, 2009, these horrible sights and sounds were just the beginning of trouble for U.S. Airways Flight 1549, which had just taken off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport. At an elevation of only 2,900 feet (884
