Originally Posted by
mercher77
Thank you for your feedback. I agree that it’s probably unlikely, but my fear makes me feel like it’s going to happen! So I’m trying to understand what can actually be done if it does.
From what I’ve gathered, once the aircraft is above 800–1,000 meters altitude, it can more or less turn back and consider returning to the runway. Below that, however, it becomes very critical.
Do pilots practice handling a total engine failure from rotation up to 300–400 meters altitude? Apart from attempting a landing as in the Korea crash?
Yes, there are procedures dealing with dual engine failures at low altitude, and yes, they are practiced. ‘Fun’ fact: the procedure for dual engine failure in the cruise is very longwinded and thorough, first trying to restart the engines using the natural airflow, failing that, slowing down to glide for as long as possible whilst now using the APU to try to restart the engines, also trying every trick in the book to get an engine restarted, then on and on about glide ratios, cabin preparations, etc. On the other hand, the procedure for dual engine failure close to the ground (forced landing checklist) is necessarily very, very short.
The dual engine failure in the cruise checklist still more or less assumes that you are aiming to land at an airport if you can’t get the engines going again. The forced landing checklist leaves that option open. I.e. the closer to the ground you are the more it becomes a judgement call: return to the airport or find a flat spot of land or water to make a forced landing. There are no hard and fast rules in this regard as there may be many variables. Both Sully’s miracle on the Hudson and the Jeju accident are a good example.
*I try to be as type/airline unspecific in the answer above, just to give you a general idea