Multiple failures. American Airbus A321 hit 3 ducks on takeoff from Chicago. Real ATC

[@PN_48]

“You’re the only customer” - Nice. Tower were all over it helping to get these guys back down👍

[@YouCanSeeATC]

🙂👍

[@davidmichael5573]

That was the best line. And extremely rare for O’hare to be the only one they are working.

[@lordandy271]

I would say both Tower, Approach and Departure did their absolutely best in this situation - A for teamwork 😊

[@TheNameOfJesus]

But they should have said this instead: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3OVqqSbeZWBq9U

[@msbeeringham3584]

I was on this flight and must commend the incredible professionalism of the Captain and crew. It was a terrifying experience - especially with thunderstorms in the area at the time of the incident. Thank you American and the ground crew at O’Hare for keeping this soul alive!

[@YouCanSeeATC]

They did a great job. Thank you for your comment 🙂👍✈️

[@elmalloc]

Thank you!

[@pablotwa1]

Thank you TWA!!

[@jasontipton8430]

i would have landed no bird is going to mess up the landing gear it was down and locked just keep the gear out get it on the ground as soon as possible is what i would have done if it popped a tire nothing you can do about it anyway just make a greaser landing

[@user-jl6zf4zx1c]

And I was the captain..

[@fuhkerz]

The only thing they could have done better was to say they needed time to "get their ducks in a row" instead of "do some troubleshooting. Then this clip would bave been legendary. But seriously, no matter how many times I hear incidents like these, I never cease to be impressed with how professional everyone is and how well they handle it. Even when they lost one of the hydraulic systems the pilot on the radio didn't give a single hint of being worried or panicked. I know personally, I'd have been freaking out wondering if I should have just tried the landing or if anything else was going to fail before we got back around to the airport. But that guy? He sounded the exact same as he had the whole time.

[@alwenke212]

sounds like the situation was seriously "ducked up"🤔

[@HammondOfTexas0]

That's what redundancies are for. I believe there are a total of 3 completely independent hydraulic systems for this reason.

[@Sugah_J]

We do these in the simulator all the time. The QRH walks you through what systems you do and don’t have so as long as you fly the airplane it’s fairly straightforward. I just wonder why they didn’t choose the longest runway available.

[@blackmusik109]

​@@HammondOfTexas0the ducks were operating on the same principle

[@AnIdiotAboard_]

@@HammondOfTexas0 2 Primary In N+N Configuration, with a Electrical Hydraulic Backup and Emergency Surfaces Backup powered by a RAT. Depending on how you want to count it, they have 3, but if you count it as separate systems there are 4 on most 2 engine jets, and upto 6 on older 4 engine jets.

[@craigmcallister2310]

I'm glad that the one guy had the sense to read them the ATIS instead of expecting them to tune and get it for themselves in the midst of all they were doing.

[@rorymeyer]

RIP Huey, Dewey, and Louie

[@prussiaaero1802]

"GOLD!"

[@misledprops]

😂

[@DeweyCheatumNHoweLLC]

Flight crew was met at the gate by Illinois Conservation Dept, ticketed for hunting ducks out of season, and without a license.

[@markcardwell]

Good one

[@kirkb2286]

You mean it’s not……well maybe it’s not here BUT where we hit them it was….signed a La. Coo….ops better say Cajun you never know who is watching

[@davidmangold1838]

Now that’s fowly funny!

[@markandkiminnewzealand2702]

Lol

[@zachattack83]

With an illegal weapon

[@GeneralSeptem]

The worst part was the dog laughing at them for missing the fourth one.

[@misledprops]

Dude!😂

[@2201Duluth]

working as a team with complete professionalism on both ends. And courteous as well! This is how it is most of the time

[@YouCanSeeATC]

🙂👍

[@S_Paoli]

my condolences to the three ducks

[@erachel1999]

Oh the poor 🦆 ducks!

[@lyaneris]

Such a waste, did anyone call catering? ^^

[@mikhailswartz]

and their families 😔

[@S_Paoli]

@@mikhailswartz the duck hunters are also sad... 🥲

[@jamesleicher]

​@@lyaneris duck was out voted, beef and chicken preferred

[@markcardwell]

Well of course the flight crew was fantastic, those controllers were all fantastic! Well done!

[@YouCanSeeATC]

👍

[@LtRiot]

The last thing you’ll find in a federal tower is someone hired to fill a quota. No time for affirmative action nonsense in aviation. You can either do the job or you can’t and the rest is no factor

[@wwaynemcg]

@@LtRiot Same goal should apply to those that make wartime military decisions, those that perform critical surgery....and many other occupations.

[@DrLumpyDMus]

It's great to hear several different ATC's more than once. Great way to compare and contrast. Get a sense for what kind of communications style works ok, and what kind works great. I think the lady controller on APPROACH was the most clear, concise, no stumbling "Um Ah's", no non-requested repeated info, no non-approved wordage. I dig hearing great controllers, dispatchers, any kind of communicator.

[@marcfair3d]

Of course they fixed the damage with duck tape.

[@coolbear6441]

Buffed it out 👍👍

[@johnschulenberg7560]

I'll bet this incident really fowled everyone's flight plans for the evening?

[@Brommear]

Especially those of the three ducks...

[@Slave-Of-Christ]

That you thought of that is cool. That you posted that, uh . . . ???

[@RLTtizME]

@@Slave-Of-Christ Yes it was quite cool and mirthful. Are you a leftist stiff?

[@christerry1773]

Especially if you were going somewhere to duck hunt!

[@alexandernordstrom1617]

You can hear the autopilot going "good luck with this, I'm outta here" in the background right around 8:00

[@Kralasaurusx]

Nice work on this reconstruction of the situation. It helps to see things happening on the map in this video to get a sense of the situation since there isn't actual footage. The one potential improvement I might suggest is showing a clock with the relative and/or absolute time of the audio if possible. But in any case, thanks for sharing this.

[@carsonwilliams]

Agree on the clock it would help show pauses

[@henlooo7587]

I would like to see the heading degrees as well

[@firefly4f4]

I never thought of duck duck goose as a dangerous game, but here we are. Seriously, I am glad that nothing more serious happened.

[@lemonator8813]

This is why American aviation is vonsidered the gold standard. An engine failure is basically a routine procedure it is handled so well.

[@davidmangold1838]

Your good can be cooked by geese! Just ask Sully! I took two geese over the Mississippi 43 years ago. Direct hit to Captain’s windshield (so I landed) and my side below my windshield. Messy! Wipers didn’t help🤪

[@RLTtizME]

@SpadesPlusYT58 Affect sweetie.

[@kristinreynolds577]

These two pilots are exactly who Id want in an emergency! They’re calm, cool, collected even though they had a million things going on at once. These are the times that puts really those those paychecks! Great work!

[@jamescollier3]

ATC all over it. nice job

[@couespursuit7350]

One day sitting at the gate in SLC and my 757 flight that would take me to CVBG pulls in. The 757 had departed JFK and ran into a flock of seagulls, apparently the plane seemed normal after the gull encounter so they continued on to SLC. I stood in the gate area and had a great view of the 757 as it pulled in and after shut down the left engine had several bent back twisted fan blades and the darn thing ran normally for 4 hours, what a plane. BTW the mechanics had the hub of the fan section and replace 4 3-blade sets of fans. Two damaged sets and to opposite sets to balance, quick run up and minimal delay to CVG. Gotta love tough Boeing aircraft.

[@Don-lo6vm]

Not the band "Flock of Seagull's"?

[@bobmartin7399]

Credit should go to engine builders, no?

[@couespursuit7350]

@@Don-lo6vm Don't think so, they might have flown up the charts at one point or even gotten sky high but actually airborne, think not.

[@couespursuit7350]

@@bobmartin7399 Legit point, but the 757 is built like a tank while 320 is more like a paper airplane. Have you ever taxied around in a 320 and heard all the clunks and creaks and the Boeings so solid none of that rattlyassed sounds. 😉

[@daftvader4218]

@@bobmartin7399 Most 757 have Rolls Royce engines with composite fan blades....

[@staceygrahame2504]

That was so smoothly coordinated. ATC had already conferred with the next one along, before the plane even reached their frequency. Hard to believed they managed to do all that - including the fly over - in such a short space of time. Again, no messing, ATC just kept them tight to the airport. You could tell that those poor pilots were starting to see more and more issues the longer it went on, the stress in their voices began to increase especially after the fly over. They knew there were checklists and did what they could but you can tell they’d also reached a point where they just wanted the thing on the ground before anything else failed on them. It’s one thing to have an incident like bird strike and know what’s causing your issues, but it’s another to see multiple vital instruments start failing one by one in front of you. I can imagine the unpredictability of that scenario being a pretty terrifying one to any pilot. You can be the best pilot in the world, but you still need your plane to work with you in order to get it down. Hope someone bought them a few beers later on.

[@shawnleonard698]

Tonight's in-flight meal is duck.,, You will never get a fresher meal than this!

[@Altarnite]

For all the jokes made about Chicago Airports, these controllers, and those pilots are among some of the best.

[@richardlacey4923]

“ he’s a menace to everything in the air.. yes birds too! “

[@outabeat]

Great pilots. Task overload with 173 souls on board. The largest work load and responsibility. Well done!

[@AnIdiotAboard_]

No task overload there, CRM Is real and highly fucking effective.

[@jnaviation8671]

This plane flew directly over my house, I have pics of the damage from some people I know

[@RLTtizME]

Your house was damaged?

[@AntoinneBarnes]

perfect professionalism from the pilot and controllers!!! nicely done!!

[@YouCanSeeATC]

👍👍👍

[@boahneelassmal]

departure controller is _insanely_ good... like, god damn...

[@somethingelsehere8089]

Pilot yells "Duck" and everyone gets confused... ;)

[@trailtales97TV]

Absolutely stellar job by the crew and controllers, so much to learn for future pilots and ATC and great videos as always, keep them coming! #subbed

[@ronanstis6328]

Future pilots and ATC should learn to use correct phraseology. Callsign, (American two six one one) message (We have had a bird strike on departure). Callsign (in whole or in part), does not come after some long winded readback if the pilot happens to remember to do so. If a pilot has just reported a birdstrike, why did the tower controller ask him to change frequency instead of asking if he required some assistance?? The departures controller should say "advise intentions" not "and say intentions" - this is not a standard phrase. The pilot's response is fulsome, but at no stage does he actually state his intentions and he leaves his callsign until last, when it should be the first part of the transmission. These criticisms can be applied to the rest of the video - it works for U.S. pilots and U.S. controllers, but it is neither standard nor professional. Have a listen to Sydney Approach or Sydney Director A/G, and you'll hear the difference.

[@stephenuden6403]

The calmness and skill of all involved is so admirable. Well done to everyone and full respect to you.

[@coreyballard8359]

That departure controller is fucking on it. What a dude.

[@charlesmoore1762]

Comms could not have been better! Excellent 2611 AND O’Hare!n

[@savagecub]

What is it with waterfowl and Airbuses ???

[@blackmusik109]

At the end of the day they all have to land😂

[@rickh2572]

Years ago, late 70's-early 80's we had a C-5A take on a flight of ducks on take off. They took out 2 engines (#3 and 4). After landing they had to replace one of the engines and repaired the other. On the next flight more ducks took out the same engine that was replaced (#3). After that the aircraft was known as 'Duck Hunter".

[@stanley917]

Appears that the ducks quacked up.

[@mrru5516]

The pilots had a heavy workload, why not use the emergency frequency instead of all those frequency changes?

[@spotted5]

All things considered changing a frequency isn’t much more difficult than changing headings or altitudes. It also allows the controllers that are actually controlling those sectors for other aircraft to be in contact with the emergency aircraft rather than trying to coordinate through another person. If the pilots felt overworked they always can make a request, but the person doing the checklists isn’t the one you’re hearing on the radios so they are mostly focused on flying and talking while the other does the checklist.

[@slappymcgillicuddy7532]

not a huge workload with one pilot flying and the other working the radios and checklists

[@dynodin81]

So they don’t have repeat same information over and over, Not efficient in that situation.

[@RoyalMela]

@@dynodin81 There can not be planes flying in areas where controller does not know what is happening. It is always best to let controller handle all planes in their designated airspaces so there are no rogue planes anywhere.

[@NYBorn519]

Total professionalism on all sides to save and protect lives. Great work by all.

[@royhi1809]

THREE DUCKS! Good job to all!

[@FN-rr6mk]

Kudos to the pilots and atc

[@detroitbucknut]

really fowled things up for the passengers.

[@chrisn9018]

Love the professionalism of everyone involved.

[@TheBluBalls]

He's coming back around and he's pissed - Surviving duck, probably.

[@Xn2th3blue]

Too many frequency changes for an IFE. They should have a secondary radio frequency designated for this only. Pilots have so much going on in the cockpit in this scenario. There's no reason to make them mess with their radio so much on top of that.

[@mando074]

Was thinking the same and yours is the only comment addressing this. One emergency frequency would be best.

[@hundiraisk]

Indeed! contact this and this and this and this and this a... The hell? Pilots have enough on their plate. It is an EM aircraft, give it some breather, come on!

[@raygale4198]

As they turn for final landing approach on the pilot comms you can hear a whirring buzzing propeller type noise quite loud in the back ground, anyone know what that was?

[@riflebone]

The 321 uses a RAT (Ram Air Turbine) to use relative wind to drive the Blue Hydraulic system when electrical power is lost, but I heard they had lost the Green, so maybe the RAT was deployed as a precaution. The RAT is very loud.

[@grnt0351]

I live on the approach for that runway. At 3000 feet it was making enough noise to get me outside to check it out.

[@seun9957]

I feel sorry the three 🦆s. RIP. 🙏I'm sorry!

[@ilovetotri23]

Spectacular communications!

[@beadbird]

If my Yellow Lab was still here he'd have gone out to the runway to retrieve those ducks for you, Cap'n! Seriously, that was nice how ATC read S to the pilots on approach. Saved time for them. ATC and pilots were totally professional. Well done, folks!

[@YouCanSeeATC]

👍

[@Republic3D]

Sounds like a good job by everyone.

[@SoloPilot6]

This could have been a serious quackup.

[@macscotsman51]

It would be fascinating to hear the CVR right at the 8:00 minute mark. I’ll bet there was some really salty words spoken. Like, “WTF is failing now?”. Well done to all. Thanks for sharing.

[@YouCanSeeATC]

Thanks for watching 🙂

[@tomstravels520]

That's the autopilot disconnecting

[@swapnilmankame]

Its the Autopilot Off sound, it beeps when you press the autopilot button, to take manual control.

[@davidsheriff8989]

Confidence and good training.....a safe outcome

[@LectronCircuits]

After getting all of their ducks in a row, they just had to wing it. Cheers!

[@daklakdigital3691]

On behalf of accuracy please note Ducks do not fly that high, they were CANADA GEESE which should not denegratedwith a inferior aeronautical imposter. We CANADA GEESE are proud holders of the downing of largest mechanica flying devices, no other flying animal has the mass required to destroy a jet engine. Also hold the recond for defecating in to a aeronautical rotating device. We also have a unique speech pattern as each audio emission is terminated with a distinct "Eh".

[@TangoDelta8111]

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, welcome aboard and as a special treat tonight, the caterer has informed us they will be serving fois grais. Enjoy😂

[@gavsvasili5041]

Good job guys

[@pmibcn]

How many frequency changes my Gosh!!! ATC should fix that. Pilots have plenty of job to do to keep switching frequencies.

[@Duality306]

Pressed Duck for your in-flight meal this evening

[@BenTrem42]

4:22 - I wasn't sure if controller was ready for fly-over. Was that clear for her? 5:07 She acks. 7:57 Great example of dis-ambiguation!

[@mgoo1713]

Gives new meaning to the term "bumper huntin' "

[@andik2329]

From my perspective as a retired single seat military pilot: I understand that ATC wants to help and they have a lot of questions but with multiple failures concerning an engine, landing gear and potentially nosewheel steering the aircrew is super busy analyzing the situation and working through multiple emergency checklists. I think less radio calls would help the aircrew.

[@EmotionalWeather]

You should note these videos are usually heavily cut.

[@AzPoolguy]

Outstanding by everyone.

[@tyronyandrews4177]

What great team work!!

[@YouCanSeeATC]

👍

[@RLTtizME]

That’s why ducks fly in formation.

[@Nobilangelo]

The ducks feathered and made Mayday calls to DTC. The DAA is investigating.

[@chrzoc]

🦆 Never passed his Part 61.

[@RickSmith-c1g]

If the crew is having issues making a decision, it appears ATC will assume PIC duties

[@mrjaycam18]

Absolutely not

[@lprophit]

why are they made to switch radio frequencies so many times during a emergency seems distracting

[@wgraham2410]

Crew did a great job. Very cordial and grateful on the frequency after they stopped on the runway. That #1 engine is definitely going to need to be replaced. Several fan blades damaged, that's what was causing the vibrations. The sound was really interesting, like a compression stall, but not as loud, with a surging sound. Aircraft was towed off the runway.

[@Ndub1036]

You sure can hear his voice change with additional failures and the extra stress from workload increase

[@daveluttinen2547]

Well done pilots, ATC, and ground crew. Were they ducks or Canadian Geese? A duck doesn't seem to have enough mass to create that much havoc with landing gear on an airliner.

[@andysPARK]

Very nice. They made it sound easy! Total pros....

[@uzaiyaro]

I dare say those three ducks won’t be trying to fight a plane again.

[@carloscortes5570]

3 little birds..pitched by my landing gear.....singing sweet songs..of memories pure and true....saying ,we bumped our heads right into you,you!!😅😂😂

[@ke7cat]

Yes since we declared an emergency, and since you asked if we need anything else while we stabilize this aircraft as we work multitude of exam messages….the flight deck desires some beluga eggs

[@malahammer]

Thanks be to feck for backup systems

[@Kae6502]

Textbook. Well done everyone!

[@YouCanSeeATC]

👍

[@David..]

RIP Three ducks.

[@legofreak4895]

13:17 That's a frequency figure. "Nineteen and a quarter" 🙂

[@dadever]

C90 and ORD ATCT controllers are some of the best.

[@pesawatindonesia]

superb mister ❤❤

[@RLTtizME]

Duck A L’Orange. Kudos to the Chef.

[@christerry1773]

How could hitting three ducks cause hydraulic failure? Shout out to these fine pilots in any case

[@nigelbarker8726]

Perhaps hit a line and cause a leak.

[@hgbugalou]

Hitting a bird of that size at that speed is a tremendous impact. Airliners only have a thin skin of aluminum. Sounds like some of the ducks hit the gear too which has exposed hydraulic lines in the bay and if one was breached it would cause that hydraulic circuit to lose pressure and eventually fail.

[@shreddder999]

2:26 The controller messed up. He failed to ask how many birds and what type.

[@geezerhull]

Great job by all. Did you call catering?

[@warrengamameilhardin]

The Chicago is strong in those controllers. I was hoping they would say something like 'when you land I'll buy you an Old Style at da Bears game'.

[@RustyB5000]

there is so much changing frequencies it seems stressful. couldn't we improve the tech so the controller can handoff to another frequency, automatically, like a phone transfer? I know the tech is different but the experience could be the same. perhaps controller sends signal up that changes the frequency for the aircraft. or perhaps each aircraft has its own fixed frequency and the controllers are the ones constantly changing, automatically via software.

[@saxmanb777]

The controller can’t reach the knobs in the flight deck, so no.

[@tomstravels520]

Yeah, that technology wouldn't be used by hackers/terorrists at all to stop radios working

[@jeffhurckes190]

I'm surprised they didn't have them overfly Midway for inspection.

[@ronanstis6328]

If, as a controller, you have an emergency, you do not tell the pilot to change frequency. The correct sequence for radio transmissions is always callsign first. It should not be up to ATC to suggest to the pilot that an emergency be declared, and there were too many unnecessary transmissions made to finally establish this fact. There are standard phrases to declare an emergency - no-one used them at any stage. A PAN call with itentions would have been appropriate, particularly with respect to the fly-past request, as this involves preparation on the part of the Tower. "maintain altitude 3000, American twenty-six eleven" should have been "American two-six-one-one, three thousand" - no more, no less, and in that order. ATC radio procedures were better than those of the flight crew, but the overall standard was not good. Otherwise a difficult situation well handled with a good outcome.

[@DashPar]

These systems are so well thought out. One would think these systems would get everyone on the same page for fuel remaining. Half ask for fuel in pounds and half ask for fuel in hours. Seems like they always want the opposite of what the pilot has. Looks like this is a case where they were on the same page, thankfully. Meanwhile, great job by flight crew and ATC!!

[@lyaneris]

Usually CTR and APP want it in time (so they know how long the crew has for trouble shooting) and ARF wants it in pounds/kgs to know how big the ball of fire might be.

[@georgealdredge2806]

Yea……I don’t get that either. If I was a firefighter on the ground, I would want to know how big of a potential bonfire I had in front of me. Three hours of fuel in a A380 is a little different from three hours in a A319.

[@RLTtizME]

Dougie....it really doesn't matter. Take the day off.

[@seanlarabee6300]

@@lyaneris As an utter civilian, the different needs of different people were what I guessed was the reason for the fuel asks being in different measures. What I still do not understand is why the local difference in the default measure? At one airport ARF has more clout so got the Emergency procedure to ask for weight and make the controllers do the back of envelope math for time? And speaking of time, is fuel as time remaining a snapshot at that moment at the current flight parameters? It is not an X pounds of fuel divided by normal cruise settings theoretical number? I liked messing with the onboard chip and its algorithms in my first car that told me range remaining; pop it in neutral at speed and watch the number climb to ridiculous values. Wondering if jets have a better tuned version of this technology.

[@kielmcgowan8584]

​@seanlarabee6300 I think asking fuel remaining and souls is a waste all around. For fuel, except in a fuel emergency, where time remaining is critical in the planning. Otherwise, is ARFF really sending less trucks if they know the plane has 1 hour left vs 4 hours? If it crashes pretty sure they are all coming regardless of fuel told on board. For souls on board, is anyone counting to 172 as they slide off the plane? I would venture no, they make the count once they corral them all, and at that point they can get a manifest from the pilot (assuming all survive), or from the airline itself. Maybe on a GA or cargo flight, knowing if youre looking for 2 or 3 is good to know, but if its a 100 or so dont think youre searching to get to a number. If you have the time and ability to do a search itll be a check of the seats and then done, not because you only counted 170 of 172 sliding down the emergency exits. Someone tell me I'm wrong, be glad to learn why it's so important.

[@09shadowjet]

So, does that constitute the ducks to be a road kill?

[@iboomit]

Not a fan of turn altitude restriction. They need altitude for safety.

[@ToyotaKTM]

The plane sat on the runway at Chicago O'Hair Int. Apt. for 48 minutes. Those three ducks must have created a HUGE MESS!

[@RogerAlan]

There were three Lori Lightfoots flying over Chicago?

[@TheJmac82]

I know ATC has a ton of processes but the number of times they had to change channels during this is kind of a problem for me. I can only imagine the amount of load on these pilots and explaining their situation to multiple ATC again and again just seems to be very inefficient. I get they want to keep the airport going, but these guys should get 1 minute of undivided attention from all of these. I think I counted 6 switchovers in 10 min, that extra workload could be the difference in a crash.

[@mita6010]

174 souls on board and three deceased ducks.

[@edzanjero353]

ATC unusually understandable and patient.

[@brentbeacham9691]

It seemed very inefficient to have to or feel the need to report the problem every radio change.

[@johnthompson5741]

Makes sure without a doubt everyone is on the same page

[@FlyMeAirplane]

Does the ground ops guy get to keep the Ducks? Kinda like road kill.

[@XXelpollodiabloXX]

Were the ducks ok?

[@MORTO178]

if you have an engine vibration why would you do a flyover? Cant see at night anyways, If you got 3 green land

[@andypandywalters]

Was it fowl weather?

[@MartyMitchell92660]

Not sure about doing a fly-over. Just land before things get worse. Three green - LAND.