Three Minutes Nineteen Seconds

January 15, 2009. US Airways Flight 1549.

At 3:27:11 PM, the Airbus A320 struck a flock of Canada geese at 2,818 feet. Both engines lost thrust instantly.

At 3:30:30 PM, Captain Chesley Sullenberger landed the plane in the Hudson River.

Three minutes and nineteen seconds. 155 lives saved.

The NTSB later simulated the event. Their analysis showed returning to LaGuardia was theoretically possible.

Sully pointed out the flaw.

The simulations didn't account for the 35 seconds needed to assess the situation. When they added realistic reaction time, every simulated return crashed.

The committee had months to analyze. Sully had seconds.

The committee was wrong because their feedback loop was too slow. By the time they "decided" to return to LaGuardia, the real plane would already be in the river.

Speed of loop beats quality of analysis.

This note explores Temporal Information Degradation, one of four dynamics from The Momentum Engine. The fastest loop wins. Not the smartest committee.