Can an Aircraft Fly on a Single Engine?

Until recent years, transoceanic flights were almost always flown by quad-engine aircrafts. It was because the more the engines, the greater is the redundancy for safety. Should an engine fail, you have 3 others to fly the aircraft safely. But as twin-engine aircraft is the norm these days, let's look at how the aircraft can fly with an engine inoperative.

With the advancement in technology, the twin-engine aircrafts consists of turbofan engines, which lead to fewer engine failures. Also, two engines burn less fuel compared to four engines. Due to this fact, airlines tend to rapidly adapt to such fuel-efficient airliners rather than fuel thirsty aircrafts such as the Airbus A340, A380, and the famous Queen of the Skies, the Boeing B747.

Aircrafts are Designed to Fly on One Engine

Engine failures are rare, but they do happen. For the passengers, it is not a thing to panic. Modern airliners are designed to fly on a single engine. Before the airframe is certified, it needs to get an ETOPS certification. The aircrafts which fly over long oceanic routes would be ETOPS certified.

ETOPS stand for Extended Range Twin Engine Operational Performance Standards.

It is a certification that allows aircrafts to fly routes which are more than an hour away from the closest airport where the plane can land safely.

It essentially is how far the plane can fly on a single engine. For instance, the popular Boeing B777 aircraft has an ETOPS-330 rating, meaning the aircraft can fly for 330 minutes on a single engine, on routes which are 3.5 hours away from a suitable airport for landing. The same rating is for the B787 Dreamliner.

The Airbus A330neo has ETOPS-180 with an option for increment up to ETOPS-285, meaning the aircraft can fly for more than 3500 km on one engine!

The modern Airbus A350 has a whopping ETOPS certification of 370 minutes, meaning, in theory, the aircraft can fly for about 6 hours with one engine inoperative.

Narrow-bodies and ETOPS

Within some years, we will be seeing many airlines preferring the Airbus A321XLR and the Boeing B737-800 and the Max flying the oceanic routes as they have 180 minutes ETOPS certification. These planes are easy to fill, and can fly upto 12 hours non-stop.

In the event of an engine failure, the pilots will take the aircraft to a lower altitude, and will try to gain the maximum continuous thrust on the operating engine, and will look for an alternate destination to land.

Comments

Why is Flying So Expensive

Flying is expensive. Many would say its just because of the rising fuel prices. But, that's not entirely true. An Airbus A320 tanks about 6400 gallons of fuel, which is equivalent to about 370 fully fueled SUVs. Comparing the fuel economy, it turns out the A320 is more economical. It gives out an impressing Per Person Fuel Efficiency of 107 miles per gallon of fuel. So besides fuel, there is so much that goes into your ticket price. We will take an example of a one hour flight from Point A to Point B. Let's have a look. All the variables are rough estimates. They might change with time, but it should provide a good idea on why flying is expensive. Fuel : Assuming a fully loaded aircraft,the A320 would provide a per person cost for fuel to about $2.50. Crew Costs : The captain and the First Officer get paid about $88 in total for every flight hour. Flight attendants, 4 for a fully loaded A320, altogether make about $150 per flight hour. So, a per person crew cost comes up to a

Air India Express banned from Flying To Dubai For One Day

In a striking event, Air India Express was banned from flying to Dubai for 24 hours. The airline, on 18th September, received a 15-day long ban for knowingly carrying a COVID-19 positive patient onboard. However, the ban was later revoked, making it a one day ban only. Let's see what exactly happened. Flying a Positive Passenger In a notice given by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA), it said that Air India Express reportedly carried two Covid-19 positive passengers on two instances, posing a risk for the safety of all onboard the flights. Therefore, the DCAA decided to impose a 15-day travel ban on the carrier. The first flight with a positive passenger was on 28th August, while the second one was on 4th September. The notice also describes the second passenger's flight as IX 1135 from Jaipur to Dubai. The passenger had a Covid positive certificate two days prior to the flight, yet he was allowed onboard the flight by AI express. Air India Express failed to report thes

Disadvantages Of Becoming An Airline Pilot

Being such a glamorous and a reward-rich job, being an airline pilot isn't as easy as it looks. Here, we look at some of the disadvantages of being an airline pilot. Stressful Job: If you search online for the most stressful jobs in the world, an airline pilot would be among the top 3. Pilots need to be in the top of their game to handle a $80 million dollar state-of-the-art machinery. Irregular schedules: If this job appeals to you, you need to forget about weekends and holidays. Airlines get the busiest during the peak season, so an airline pilot needs to be on duty as and when the company demands. Health is everything: A pilot needs to be medically fit in order to fly. He/She needs to keep their Class 1 medical valid. Fail the test, and your license may get suspended. Away from Home: Pilots are constantly flying to dozens of places with layovers, meaning they rarely spend their time at their home with their loved ones and missing important occasions. Sleep Cycle: Flying long hou

The Flying Commander

Search This Blog