A recent engine blowout on an Air France Airbus A380 left it with only three of four engines. The plane made it safely to land. But imagine if three engines blew out. Would the plane have crashed? As it turns out, the aircraft can still fly with only one engine.
Air France Flight 66 was traveling from Paris to Los Angeles last Saturday when one of the engines “exploded”. The flight diverted to Goose Bay, Canada where all 520 passengers and crew members were safely evacuated. The cause of the engine failure is still being investigated.
I’d probably be reporting a similar story even if three engines had blown out…perhaps even all four.
There are many anecdotes I can point to, but I’ll mention British Airways Flight 9. The 747 flight was traveling from London to Auckland via Mumbai, Chennai, Kuala Lumpur, Perth and Melbourne in 1982. Between Kuala Lumpur and Perth the plane entered an area near Jakarta, Indonesia with thick volcanic smoke from Mount Galunggung.
All four engines failed. The crew prepared for water landing, as the plane glided downward at a rate of 15km for every 1km it dropped. But the flight engineer was able to coax back on one of the four engines. That was enough to prevent the crash landing and start the plane on a gradual ascent to Jakarta. The other three engines soon kicked on as well, but one engine saved the day.
CONCLUSION
My point is simple: flying is incredibly safe. Even with no engines in the middle of an ocean a plane can gently glide down, land on the water, and evacuate every passenger and crew member before the plane sinks.
When we hear horror stories of engines going out, we naturally are filled wtih fear. But while flying is not without risk, airplanes are engineering marvels and are made to withstand intense pressure.
I hope none of us are ever in a situation like Air France 66, but if we…we’re overwhelming likely to be just fine.
image: Twitter
I agree with 1 engine operation and glide distance from FL38, but Not sure if there are any successful 747 water landings. Landing on land is hard enough.
Lack of water landings doesn’t mean it can’t safely be done. How many failures have there been when a plane is attempting to land on water with advance notice and no other issues? I’m speaking purely about water landings due to engine failure and not something that wouldn’t have allowed the pilot to configure the plane properly for a landing on the water.
Although planes can theoretically glide to a landing on water, this is in ideal conditions. In real life, water landings are not expected to be successful and are a worst case scenario. That’s why there’s a whole movie called “Scully”… it was almost a miraculous landing.
Scully also landed on a nice calm river, not a raging ocean with 10 foot waves at minimum. This guy makes it sound like landing on water is routine, when in fact it;s a death sentence.
Other than the China Air that overshot the runway similar to the JAL that missed gluidescope and ended short at SFO gear down
Past life in the AF I always hate to see such non meaning articles written, Love facts. Fact is these planes are designed and certified to accomplish their mission with a single engine or two depending on the configuration. They are also certified if major malfunction on take off which as you know is the most dangerous time to do perform a “go around” on one engine.
This is not correct. 1/4 engine would let you decend slower, but will not keep you in the sky. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9#cite_note-Tootell-7
Two engine failures are the maximum that keeps you flying.
Ghostider, an A380 cannot “go around” on one engine.
Ok ex 747 captain here. An A380 can not sustain level flight on 1 engine. 3 engines out, the remaining operative engine would only reduce the descent rate or “stretch the glide” Any Aircraft (like… any) can fly on zero engines ie glide. In fact every normal descent from altitude is accomplished with all engines at idle thrust.
I know some of you bloggers who claim to avgeeks and maybe have a simulator session under your belt, think you are almost pilots etc. Regular (mostly wrong) critique of pilot performance in accidents/ incidents etc Ummm….
On the flip side… thank you for the comprehensive reviews and info on loyalty programs and airline products. Really.
Andy what was it like to fly the Queen of the sky’s I’m not a pilot by any stretch of the imagination just an av geek and love to fly but it must have been incredible your very fortunate to have been a part of it.
On a New York to Ft. Lauderdale (a short flight) on a budget airline when I was 16, 3 of the 4 engines blew. They had us assume the crash position. We managed to land safely. But it’s why I’m hesitant to fly budget airlines.
“Even with no engines in the middle of an ocean a plane can gently glide down, land on the water, and evacuate every passenger and crew member before the plane sinks.”
This would be possible in ideal conditions like landing on a calm river or lake with little wind (e.g. C. Sullenberger). Open oceans usually have substantial swells and/or chop greatly reducing the possibility of a safe water landing and evacuation.