Retiree's Invention Aided 'Miracle on the Hudson'

Back in 1966, John E. Gregalot received an award from the Federal Aviation Agency for helping improve the reliability of an airline flight instrument.

On Thursday afternoon, the 91-year-old retiree felt great satisfaction knowing his work contributed to a critical instrument used as a US Airways pilot guided his crippled airliner into a safe crash landing in the Hudson River in New York City.

All 155 passengers and crew escaped serious injuries in what New York officials called "the Miracle on the Hudson."

"The skill of the pilot, he has to take great credit," Gregalot said of pilot Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, widely hailed as a hero.

One of the instruments the pilot had to use when a flock of birds knocked out both engines and forced the crash landing was the vertical gyro. Gregalot explained that it provides the pilot with the "attitude," or orientation, of the plane - whether it's level, tilting to one side, and whether the nose or tail is tilting upwards or down.

"The pilot had to touch down with the tail down in the water, to slow the plane down gradually so the front settled down little by little," Gregalot said. The airliner would have been smashed horribly if it struck the river flat, he said.

Working as an instrument mechanic for Eastern Airlines, Gregalot developed a modification that prevents the vertical gyro from getting damaged and giving false readings during adverse circumstances.

The FAA named him one of 17 regional winners of its annual Aviation Mechanic Safety Awards. He was cited for an "outstanding contribution to aviation safety through better maintenance and improved equipment reliability and design."

Gregalot said his modification became standard on jet aircraft throughout the airline industry. He retired from Eastern Airlines after a 37-year career.