The pilots didn’t have time to activate the “ditching switch”.
Why can’t the plane’s software automatically activate the “ditching switch” when it senses that a belly landing is imminent? This can be done using inputs from the radio altimeter, landing gear position, speed, attitude (pitch) etc. This will remove one item from the checklist.
Paul MacCready — aircraft designer, environmentalist, and lifelong lover of flight — talks about his long career. After his record-breaking work on human-powered aircraft in the 1970s, with the Gossamer Condor and Gossamer Albatross, MacCready’s attention turned to addressing a…