What If?: Large Plane Down In Hudson River In Westchester?

[texastom791 31]

I looked on the NYSP website and it doesn't say anything about the hours of the Helicopter but their SCUBA teams are on call 24/7 for all troops except L,T,and NYC. So I guess if the operation god forbid turned into a recovery that is one more resource you could call on.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

If you really want the answer to the question of whether "we" could handle something like this...one doesn't have to go far in the old personal hard drive to find some answers.

How well was the coordination of a boat that overturned in the Hudson several months ago? And before you answer that question for some of you...I want you to take the rose colored glasses off and really look at the overall operation....not just the overall outcome. Far too many incidents are looked at this way and the little (and sometimes big, really big!) problems don't get corrected or solved because of this mentality. I always love when people say "well bottom line is everyone was rescued" or "regardless...good job xyz..mission accomplished." That's all fine and dandy, but no matter how you chalk it up...its our job to get that point one way or the other. Whether its by great planning and training...or by pure accident. But even in successful military operations, even the small problems were brought out, discussed and handled so the next time was even better. How often does that really happen? I still think that there were significant issues, both administrative and operational that should have been discussed in regard to the boat incident to make future such incidents possibly get a more efficient response, better operational coordination, etc. From the 911 call right through demobilization. From every person involved.

Now take into account many of the phases of the operation and the logisitics involved. Coordinated response of agencies all from the same municipality. The overturned boat had upwards of 4 if not 5 counties involved at one point. (Putnam, Orange, Rockland and Westchester Units). What would you do with the plane, add counties as it drifts down river as it passes each county?

How many of your boats are actually still in the water? I know many departments that pull them out. Also it would be great if you could say...well if it drops here we can have these departments respond. Depending on where in the river it could occur could vary greatly on availability of boats and speed.

They had a similar issue when accounting for passengers. Some were taken into NJ some into NY. This comes down to coordination, proper documentation, etc. Again, add in even more agencies and such see how long it would take to figure it out. And we're talking 155 persons, with the majority of them having nothing more then exposure as their main problem. if you had significant injuries with numerous critical injuries and lack of solid coordination....the lack of discipline often displayed in regions with multiple agencies (look up and read about the Aviana incident for the younger gang) both of freelance, y'all come or just grabbing patients and just going to any receiving facility you pick. Your looking at a nightmare for accountability and getting patients to the appropriate facility. This was a concept that was mentioned at an incident where my thought process was that if you get all patients to one side, you have better accountability and for the most part were in between 2 trauma centers...1 regional, 1 area.

The biggest question should not be if we can handle such an incident. The question should be why are we not and what should we be doing (with multiple counties involved as that would be realistically what would happen) to get there! Factor in multiple agencies, fire, police, ems...throw in some of the "no we're in charge" "this is our scene" stuff..and why does this happen, because no one talks and agreements are not made even simple policy understandings.

[bigfitz2004 19]

I believe that if an aircraft went down were Rye Lake that is near the airport would be a bigger problem then if a plane went down in the Hudson. If a plane did go down were Rye Lake who is the fire district would that be and can they handle water rescue. If not how long would it take to get boats in the water?

[INIT915 1,119]

Doesn't the NYSP helicopter only run like 9-5 monday through friday ?

Not sure where you got that.

Aviation works 7 days a week, 7am-11pm, with Pilots available for recall from 11pm-7am.

[texastom791 31]

Aviation works 7 days a week, 7am-11pm, with Pilots available for recall from 11pm-7am.

thanks for the clarification.

[hudson144 150]

Like any water incident,boat,jet ski,swimmer etc the incident originates in one spot and is finally taken care off usually away from the origin of the call. If we all can take notice as to how far the downed aircraft floated or drifted it should open some eyes,the river is a recreational playground but should not be taken lightly like many do to include some of us emergency responders. Alot of great info posted so far.Thanks Hudson