Go Back  PPRuNe Forums > Misc. Forums > Spectators Balcony (Spotters Corner)
Reload this Page >

If a 747s engine;s failed midflight could it glide down and land safely?

Wikiposts
Search
Spectators Balcony (Spotters Corner) If you're not a professional pilot but want to discuss issues about the job, this is the best place to loiter. You won't be moved on by 'security' and there'll be plenty of experts to answer any questions.

If a 747s engine;s failed midflight could it glide down and land safely?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 28th Apr 2010, 19:06
  #1 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Surrey
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Angel If a 747s engine;s failed midflight could it glide down and land safely?

Supposing a 737 or any other airline passenger jets engines failed at 30,000 ft could it glide down and land safely? What's the odds?
FlyingVisit is offline  
Old 28th Apr 2010, 19:14
  #2 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Los Angeles, USA
Age: 52
Posts: 1,631
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
It sure can. Even the hydraulics will work with either an electrical backup pump and a windmill generator.
AdamFrisch is offline  
Old 28th Apr 2010, 19:16
  #3 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: North America
Age: 64
Posts: 364
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Already happened and more than once.

Read the following link to an incident. It was Air Canada flight 143 involving a large Boeing 767 that lost all engine power and landed safely.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider
Northbeach is offline  
Old 28th Apr 2010, 19:16
  #4 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: In an Airplane
Posts: 125
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Well an Airbus can, as its already happened.

Air Transat Flight 236 dead sticked into the Azores.

Any Aircraft in theory could if done correctly.....they all glide until stopped by ground level.


Air Transat Flight 236 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
privateer01 is offline  
Old 28th Apr 2010, 19:26
  #5 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Surrey
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Must be difficult to find a good place to land surely?
FlyingVisit is offline  
Old 28th Apr 2010, 23:27
  #6 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: At home
Posts: 100
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Any aircraft can glide with out power, you just have fewer option in a bigger aircraft as they come down quicker.

I had an examiner kill both engines on me in a sim ride on a 737 a few years back. There's no procedure, you just have to find somewhere to put it, and fast.

It's so unlikely to ever happen for real, but it sometimes does. A BBJ just went into Riyadh a couple of days ago with it's engines both choking on sand, and the pilots calling a mayday due to zero thrust from either engine. They got it down ok..... and probably found a bottle of hooch pretty fast
Wyle E Coyote is offline  
Old 29th Apr 2010, 07:36
  #7 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: ME
Posts: 5,502
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
and the pilots calling a mayday due to zero thrust from either engine. They got it down ok
I would have thought that any airliner that lost both engines on takeoff would crash straight ahead and not return to land.

It would be interesting to know just how much thrust they actually had.

Mutt
mutt is offline  
Old 29th Apr 2010, 19:29
  #8 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Newcastle, WA, USA
Posts: 96
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
The ability have a controlled glide and accomplish a landing flare with all engines inoperative is a certification requirement.

A safe landing is not guaranteed though.
Old Aero Guy is offline  
Old 29th Apr 2010, 21:20
  #9 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: At home
Posts: 100
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
It would be interesting to know just how much thrust they actually had.
I wonder the same thing myself. I can tell you from experience that at 10,000ft on a straight out departure, I did a teardrop onto the reciprocal and fell short by about 10 metres. Not pretty but survivable.

When the engines quit, they rapidly start to resemble the 30-odd tons of Aluminium they're made from.
Wyle E Coyote is offline  
Old 29th Apr 2010, 21:20
  #10 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: The Winchester
Posts: 6,555
Received 5 Likes on 5 Posts
Answering the thread title: You'd glide OK in a 747 but a neatly flared landing might be a tad more problematic, though it might not be impossible.

There's no RAT ("windmill") to give you back-up power so you would be relying on the engines themselves windmilling or perhaps imaginative/non standard use of the APU and hydraulic pumps to give you adequate hydraulic power to operate the Flight Controls. It was certainly not a procedure covered in any of the manuals for the 744 variant I flew and I never saw it taught in the simulator in over 20 years on the aircraft .
wiggy is offline  
Old 30th Apr 2010, 00:11
  #11 (permalink)  

the lunatic fringe
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Everywhere
Age: 67
Posts: 618
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
It will even do an autoland !
L337 is offline  
Old 30th Apr 2010, 21:01
  #12 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: manchester
Age: 70
Posts: 452
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Think 777 into LHR.
al446 is offline  
Old 30th Apr 2010, 21:18
  #13 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: The No Transgression Zone
Posts: 2,483
Received 5 Likes on 3 Posts
I would have thought that any airliner that lost both engines on takeoff would crash straight ahead and not return to land.
I wonder the same thing myself. I can tell you from experience that at 10,000ft on a straight out departure, I did a teardrop onto the reciprocal and fell short by about 10 metres. Not pretty but survivable.
Regarding a teardrop return

even on a flat gradient you would have to be assured of obstacle clearance and that would require extensive knowledge of the airport environment

when landing straight ahead you at least hopefully have a better guarantee of obstacle avoidance

so, perhaps except in a few rare situations a turnback will not be advisable ans any turning will also increase sink rate

Pugilistic Animus is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.