Both Engines Fail On Take-off

[frnikolai]

Hi,

I would say I fly a lot, every 2 months or so - and I have never had a problem. So I am a confident flyer, however recently something came to my attention.

I want to give a scenario:

Boeing 737-800 or Airbus A319 ( I fly on these very frequently, so that's why I picked them ) has just taken-off and the landing gear is now up and the aircraft climbing - suddenly both engines fail?

What does the Captain do? The aircraft was climbing and has lost complete power and both engines, the gear is up, and the plane is coming down?

This has never happened to my knowledge, but it seems very likely.

The first thing that came to my mind was it would come down, mass panic so nobody gets into the brace position, and then blows up upon impact - total loss of life of everyone on board.

Thank you for reading, and I look forward to you're replies.

Nikolai

[Blues&twos]

This has never happened to my knowledge, but it seems very likely.

Where have you been? Hudson River ring any bells??

Troll?

[frnikolai]

I am sorry, I was not sure the cause of that crash - what happens if there is no water though?

Nikolai

[parabellum]

First, the possibility of a simultaneous failure of both engines on a twin for unrelated reasons is highly unlikely, double bird ingestion or fuel starvation are the most likely but the odds are millions to one, e.g. US Air down in the Hudson v. how many others?
In the daytime the pilot would try to pick a flat area, possibly put the wheels down to absorb some of the impact. At night would be more difficult, go talk to a bookmaker and assess the odds, he will reassure you!

[LarryDCableGuy]

I would try a quick re-start while looking for the safest spot to land.

[donnlass]

You could have a read of what happened to this aircraft when it lost both engines. Being an Airbus it had an alternative generator but had to glide to the Azores.


An Air Transat A330-200 makes a crash landing in Azores [Archive] - DA.C (http://www.diecastaircraftforum.com/archive/t-7522.html)

Cheers

Donnlass

[RTN11]

...the same senario as a single engine aircraft losing it's one and only engine?

[frnikolai]

When I was learning English - I saw an Air Crash Investigation about that.

Thank you

Nikolai

[Bealzebub]

frnikolai, I think you are worrying about things that are less likely than being struck by lightning whilst on the way to pick up your second jackpot lottery in a week!

There is a procedure that pilots follow for the loss of all engines, that basically entails trying to get at least one of them started again. This procedure would require a degree of time to accomplish. Recently there was the extraordinary case of an airbus taking off from Laguardia airport in New York that suffered total power failure seemingly as result of multiple large bird ingestion. In that case the crew tried initially to return to their departure point or to divert to another nearby airport. They then calculated they couldn't safely accomplish either option, so elected to land on a nearby river, which they achieved with great success.

This type of event is extremely rare, and obviously it would depend at what point in the flight you suffered the power loss. The more height and speed you have, the more time you can normally trade those commodities for.
All aircraft can glide, and the distance they can glide is a product of those same items. A couple of things are certain. One is if you lose all available thrust, gravity will become the dominant factor. The other is, it will all go very quiet.

If you can find a suitable surface to land on within your gliding distance there is every chance the aircraft will remain intact and (as in the recent case) everybody will leave the aircraft unharmed. Obviously if the aircraft is severely damaged and carrying a large mass of fuel and there are ignition sources, the outcome may well be far less happy. Clearly there is a combination of skill and luck. However the likelyhood of such occurances is so remote, that it should be slotted well down your list of phobias or plausible concerns.

[beachbumflyer]

I recall there was a SAS MD-80 that lost both engines right after take off
out of Stockolm and the pilots put the plane on a field.
Not pretty sure how and when, so look it up.

[parabellum]

Number 4 from the top:

crew pax | pax phase | total injuries | 1992 | 0191 | Flight Archive (http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1992/1992%20-%200191.html)