Originally Posted by
Raptor71
what would be the indication for engine severe damage?
General signs that suggest severe damage
may have occurred:
- Very sudden loss of thrust (i.e. instant, rather than spooling down)
- A loud bang, or multiple loud bangs
- No rotation of either N1 or N2 stages
- Loss of engine indications
- High vibration levels, either indicated or physically felt/heard
- Multiple (unexpected) systems failures (i.e. other than eng-driven generator or eng-driven hydraulic pump)
This is not a full list. And not all of these necessarily mean damage... for example a bang could be a turbine blade going, or it could be surging. But if you have any of these conditions, you ought to consider you may have severe damage. You have to use your crew judgement.
Fire/Severe Damage/Separation is a more urgent situation than "just" an Engine Failure, so it could be better to err on the side of caution and treat it as a Severe Damage rather than not.
Originally Posted by
Raptor71
Besides in the event of JUST an engine failure at T/O, how would you proceed?
Normal T/O until FLAPS UP, the After T/O C/L and then Engine failure C/L and the one engine inop landing C/L?
Before going to the one engine out landing checklist you would want to stop, think, discuss, decide.
Depending on the operator, each will have a decision-making process (DODAR, T-DODAR, PIOSEE, GRADE are some of the ones used by the likes of BA, Ryanair, Easyjet etc) they are all the same essentially, just different words for the same thing.
If the engine is secure and you have no fuel leak or fire then there is no particularly urgent need to land asap. It is better to take your time and make sure everything is done properly rather than rush things.
Whilst it is not an ideal situation, and far from normal, flying with one engine shut down is not particularly concerning. ETOPS aircraft these days are rated to fly very far from land for many hours on a single engine. I'm an Airbus man, not a Boeing, but an engine failure on the 'Bus isn't a particularly big deal as far as affecting other systems goes. You retain all your flight controls, remain in Normal law with all your usual high speed/low speed/pitch/roll protections, you have the PTU so both engine-driven hydraulic systems remain powered, it's really not the big deal people might think.
So you can happily go into a hold and run through your QRH and decision making processes. Maybe you let your company know the situation (and at captains discretion, based on the situation at the time, perhaps even let Ops have some input in the decision making if appropriate*)
In a very urgent situation, you go with the first acceptable decision. But where you have time, it is better to go with the most appropriate option.
* Regarding letting Company Ops make decisions in non-normal/abnormal/emergency situations...
I am happy for the company to tell me where to go in the event of something like a weather diversion, if F-Plan Alt is B, but fuel is sufficient to go to airfields C, D or return to A, I'm happy letting them make that call, it is an operational decision after all, not a flight safety one.
If I have a failure and systems are downgraded but the aircraft is safe and secure, I am over the midlands at FL260 with many airports available, then I am happy for company to say "it's 20 minutes further, but we'd rather you diverted to Y instead of Z because we've got engineering cover and a spare aircraft there", and I would discuss that on the flight deck and as always it's the captains decision.
If I've had an engine fire that took two bottles to extinguish then I don't care if they have a nice hot dinner and a nice cosy bed waiting for me, I'm not letting the company make that call for me, I'm going where I want and the only people making that decision are me and the person sat next to me.