B773A346 From United States of America, joined Feb 2008, 77 posts, RR: 0 Posted (5 years 3 months 1 week 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 3456 times:
I was wondering if the Boeing 747 can complete an entire journey without turning on all 4 engines and using only 2 or 3 engines all the time, and one engine for the B767 and B777. Is it safe though ?
BAKJet From United States of America, joined Nov 2007, 740 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (5 years 3 months 1 week 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 3442 times:
Quoting B773A346 (Thread starter): was wondering if the Boeing 747 can complete an entire journey without turning on all 4 engines and using only 2 or 3 engines all the time
I think a BA 744 fly on 3 engines LAX-LHR(maybe it ended up landing in SNN). Although, I think it was because of and engine failure.
Rwy04LGA From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 2139 posts, RR: 7 Reply 2, posted (5 years 3 months 1 week 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 3424 times:
Zero! Any plane could still fly, just not maintain altitude (Space Shuttle). But, obviously, the answer is one, even a 4-holer.
And the word is 'LEAST'
The early bird gets the worm, BUT...the second mouse gets the cheese!
Stitch From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 26674 posts, RR: 83 Reply 3, posted (5 years 3 months 1 week 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 3423 times:
A four-engined plane can complete her mission on three, but if they lost two, I'm pretty sure they'd need to divert.
A two-engined plane needs to divert once it drops an engine.
Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 21444 posts, RR: 24 Reply 4, posted (5 years 3 months 1 week 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 3387 times:
Quoting Stitch (Reply 3): A four-engined plane can complete her mission on three, but if they lost two, I'm pretty sure they'd need to divert.
Three and four engine aircraft are also permitted to make ferry flights with one engine out under certain conditions (obviously with only the crew aboard) to get an aircraft to a maintenance base.
Avioniker From United States of America, joined Dec 2001, 1109 posts, RR: 11 Reply 5, posted (5 years 3 months 1 week 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 3380 times:
Many 747 operators leave it up to the captain to continue or divert if an engine is lost after departure.
My favorite is the BA 747 that lost an engine after departing LAX and continued on to LHR landing only slightly late. The crew apparently didn't even consider returning to LAX or diverting and BA didn't think much of it either; at least until the press panic artists got hold of it. . .
One may educate the ignorance from the unknowing but stupid is forever. Boswell; ca: 1533
CitationJet From United States of America, joined Mar 2003, 2229 posts, RR: 3 Reply 6, posted (5 years 3 months 1 week 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 3367 times:
Quoting Viscount724 (Reply 4): Three and four engine aircraft are also permitted to make ferry flights with one engine out under certain conditions
Would this not affect the aerodynamic properties of the aircraft? I mean in terms of less drag on the one side than on the other. Could this be corrected simply by adjusting the rudder trim?
Dom
ALITALIA,All Landings In Torino, All Luggage In Athens ;)
Avioniker From United States of America, joined Dec 2001, 1109 posts, RR: 11 Reply 8, posted (5 years 3 months 1 week 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 3357 times:
The answer is a simple yes and yes.
Quoting Thesorcerer (Reply 7): Would this not affect the aerodynamic properties of the aircraft? I mean in terms of less drag on the one side than on the other. Could this be corrected simply by adjusting the rudder trim?
That's normal procedure on a three engine ferry. With the engine off there's less offset rudder trim required.
One may educate the ignorance from the unknowing but stupid is forever. Boswell; ca: 1533
Starlionblue From Hong Kong, joined Feb 2004, 15866 posts, RR: 66 Reply 9, posted (5 years 3 months 1 week 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 3316 times:
Quoting B773A346 (Thread starter): I was wondering if the Boeing 747 can complete an entire journey without turning on all 4 engines and using only 2 or 3 engines all the time, and one engine for the B767 and B777. Is it safe though ?
Do you mean that they should turn off an engine or two for some reason?
As for the answer, it has been given above.
- Quad can remain aloft on two or three. Two requires a diversion.
- Twin can remain aloft on one. This requires a diversion.
The time aloft is dependent on the amount of fuel. Note also a twin on one engine cruises slower.
"There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots." - from Citadel by John Ringo
XXXX10 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2000, 777 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (5 years 3 months 1 week 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 3227 times:
Quoting Avioniker (Reply 5): Many 747 operators leave it up to the captain to continue or divert if an engine is lost after departure.
My favorite is the BA 747 that lost an engine after departing LAX and continued on to LHR landing only slightly late. The crew apparently didn't even consider returning to LAX or diverting and BA didn't think much of it either; at least until the press panic artists got hold of it. . .
To be fair there is no evidence that they 'did not consider diverting'. I believe the crew contacted ops for advice and were told that it was up to the captain.
The aircraft diverted to MAN as they were unable to use all of the fuel that they had.
There was an AAIB report which IIRC did not criticize the crew for not landing earlier.
Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 21444 posts, RR: 24 Reply 11, posted (5 years 3 months 1 week 2 days 14 hours ago) and read 3186 times:
Quoting XXXX10 (Reply 10): To be fair there is no evidence that they 'did not consider diverting'. I believe the crew contacted ops for advice and were told that it was up to the captain.
The aircraft diverted to MAN as they were unable to use all of the fuel that they had.
There was an AAIB report which IIRC did not criticize the crew for not landing earlier.
Starlionblue From Hong Kong, joined Feb 2004, 15866 posts, RR: 66 Reply 13, posted (5 years 3 months 1 week 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 3104 times:
Quoting Thegeek (Reply 12): If a four engine plane were light enough, could it maintain level flight at a lower altitude on one engine? If so, they could continue even on two.
That would depend on the weight.
However:
- I don't know the two engine cruise speed of a typical quad, but I wager it's not too hot. So you might not get where you're going anyway. In other words, divert.
- If a quad lost two, that would be a pretty strong indication of a possible fault independent of the engines. Would you want to continue?
"There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots." - from Citadel by John Ringo
Thegeek From Australia, joined Nov 2007, 2604 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (5 years 3 months 1 week 2 days 7 hours ago) and read 3086 times:
Quoting Starlionblue (Reply 13): - If a quad lost two, that would be a pretty strong indication of a possible fault independent of the engines. Would you want to continue?
I'm pretty sure thery're not allowed to deliberately take off with one engine not operating unless it's under the special conditions of a ferry flight, as mentioned above. Continuing when an engine fails after take-off is another matter.
Quoting XXXX10 (Reply 10): To be fair there is no evidence that they 'did not consider diverting'.
I'd go further than that. I'd say there's plenty of evidence that they definitely did consider diverting and continued to do so throughout the flight.
Francoflier From France, joined Oct 2001, 3195 posts, RR: 10 Reply 17, posted (5 years 3 months 6 days ago) and read 2735 times:
Every airline operating quads has specific guidelines in its ops manual regarding engine failures enroute for the pilots to follow.
Usually, it'll say that to continue to destination (or to a diversion airport a little more hospitable than a semi-deserted military airbase in Siberia) you need:
- Certain weather conditions at the planned destination
- Terrain clearance for the 2 engines scenario for the remainder of the flight
- Depressurization scenario fuel considerations for the remainder of the flight
- A certain amount of fuel upon arrival at the planned destination airport, and ultimately,
- The commander's satisfaction that the plane is safe to fly to the planned destination.
It varies from airline to airline, obviously, and depends on local regulations.
To give an idea of 1 engine inop performance on a quad, a 744 will burn around 10 to 15% more fuel on 3 engines than on 4. It'll usually have to descend around 2000 to 4000 feet below its optimum cruise altitude. It would usually be able to make it to destination within the above mentioned guidelines from an IFSD occurring around 1/3 to 1/2 of the way to that destination on a typical 12 hours flight, or even from earlier on in some cases. speed and time loss would be relatively marginal.
It all depends on weight and fuel on board, sector lenght, company fuel policy, weather, etc, of course....
When it comes to twin, I don't know of any airline/country regulations that would allow it to continue anywhere other than to the closest suitable airport when in a engine out scenario...
Whether it could physically do it is another question, and it would largely depend on altitude/speed loss and increase in fuel burn, which will obviously be much greater than for a quad.
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit posting...
Soon7x7 From United States of America, joined May 2006, 2796 posts, RR: 14 Reply 18, posted (5 years 3 months 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 2699 times:
KELPkid From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 5929 posts, RR: 4 Reply 19, posted (5 years 3 months 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 2658 times:
Any of them can still fly with no working engines Just don't stall...but you will for sure be descending. Best to trim for the best rate-of-glide airspeed at that point...and picking out a landing site The Gimli and Azores gliders both proved this.
Celebrating the birth of KELPkidJR on August 5, 2009 :-)
FlyUSCG From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 656 posts, RR: 0 Reply 20, posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 6 days 14 hours ago) and read 2318 times:
Quoting Avioniker (Reply 5): My favorite is the BA 747 that lost an engine after departing LAX and continued on to LHR landing only slightly late.
It actually didn't make it to LHR due to lack of fuel and headwinds etc... I think thats why it got so much negative press (and rightfully so).
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I'd go further than that. I'd say there's plenty of evidence that they definitely did consider diverting and continued to do so throughout the flight.
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