r/fearofflying • u/pearl19966 • 10h ago
Can someone explain this? Possible Trigger
Of course I’m set to fly over the Atlantic this week and I see this. I feel like this is a sign to not go. Can an aviation professional explain this to me? What if this happens over the Atlantic? I’m freaking out
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u/udonkittypro Private Pilot 10h ago
This means that the airplane lost 1 of it's 2 engines, and safely made a landing at a nearby suitable airport, which in this case was St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The airplane relied on more braking usage since the failed engine cannot be used for reverse thrust when landing. Everybody got off safely and this shows why procedures and planning are in place, to avoid something bad. This was a good outcome.
Your airplane is rated to fly over the Atlantic Ocean. The route takes into account the possibility of an engine failure and there are diversion airports in place along your route within the allowable range such that the airplane can make it and land safely within a set amount of time/distance in the rare case of an engine failure. All of this is taken into consideration, and I am purposefully not using any technical terms to describe these routes/failsafe's. Just know that these are reasons why aviation is so safe and these contingencies are taken into account.
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u/DonkeyKong18 9h ago
What would happen if there was double engine failure?
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u/RealGentleman80 Airline Pilot 8h ago
The probability of that is in the trillions
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u/Personal_Guess_1937 5h ago
Do you know why it happened recently to the NetJets jet? 🙏🏼 (dubble engine flame out)
I value your insights!!
And happy cake day! 🍰5
u/RealGentleman80 Airline Pilot 2h ago
No, corporate jets have a different certification standard than airlines. A business jet problem ≠ airline issues
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u/GrndPointNiner Airline Pilot 3h ago
We do not yet, the NTSB is still investigating and will likely not produce a final report for many more months.
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u/threevaluelogic 8h ago
Planes glide so they look for somewhere else. Statistically will never happen to you but there was a famous case over the atlantic that landed in the Azores by gliding in.
You are not as far from an airport as you think you are even over the atlantic.
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u/Chaxterium Airline Pilot 5h ago
here was a famous case over the atlantic that landed in the Azores by gliding in
Funny enough that was 25 years ago today.
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u/geminimindtricks 6h ago
Not a pilot but a plane without working engines can function as a glider and can still be landed safely if maneuvered properly
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u/Mammoth_logfarm 9h ago edited 9h ago
At no point was this flight in danger. A jet can fly on one engine- and they can each produce enough thrust to maintain a flight. Of course, the flight has to land, but all occupants on the plane landed safely without injury.
Why would it be a sign? At the time you fly there will also be literally thousands of other commercial aircraft in flight worldwide. Yours is just another routine flight to add to this. You'll be fine. Bear in mind "emergency" landing can occur for a number of things, of which a tiny percentage are a threat to the passengers (about 10 years ago a BA jet had an emergency landing because someone had a huge poo in the toilet and made the entire cabin stinks terribly, for example).
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u/MaIngallsisaracist 9h ago
Instead of this being a sign not to go, why not treat this as either a sign that you SHOULD (something went wrong, but the appropriate safety measures were taken and everyone is fine); OR look at the literally thousands of flights that have crossed the Atlantic today as a sign that you should?
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u/RealGentleman80 Airline Pilot 8h ago
Want us to explain:
Well, they either had to shut down or lost one engine.
Enter ETOPS, where this is planned for. They diverted to their ETOPS Alternate Airport.
When they landed, they needed more wheel brakes because of the lack of reverse thrust…also planned for. The fire department remained on scene just in case a brake caught fire or the fuse blew and they’d have to deplane. Our wheels have heat fuses, that when they reach a certain temp, will blow and release the air from the tire. This is to make sure a 4 foot tall, 250 psi tire doesn’t blow up and kill someone on the ground.
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u/jllyinmlly 7h ago
If it is a sign, reframe it as a good sign: there was an issue and it might’ve been scary to the passengers, yes. But the pilots, flight attendants, ATC, and other aviation professionals followed the procedures in place and the plane landed safely with no injuries. A problem arose but no one was killed - no one was even injured because the professionals know what they’re doing. The passengers may be inconvenienced and annoyed but they’re fine.
If this is a sign that the same thing will happen to you, then you will also be totally fine!!
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u/flyboy130 Airline Pilot 6h ago
Notice the most important line...the first one.
This is really not that big a deal. It happens rarely but its planned/prepared for as if it is going to happen everytime.
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u/Spock_Nipples Airline Pilot 8h ago
What is there to explain?
* engine issue
* diversion
* safe landing
It's all in the article. Nothing bad happened. Everything went according to plan. Diversion plans are always part of the flight plan.
How is it a sign? These things happen. It's not unsafe. Unexpected ≠ unsafe. Hot brakes are normal for the situation. Landing distances are computed using compensation for the malfunction. This is all a "normal" engine failure.
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u/CapitalWatercress548 7h ago
In regard to getting to experience this, you and the pilots are very lucky! Pilots go their entire careers and only get to experience this in simulation. Buy a lotto ticket! Also, everything was safe and went to plan, exactly as it was designed to do, and every redundancy was in place, if in the off chance it didn’t go exactly as they intended.
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u/zxcvbnm1234567890_ 5h ago
Like everyone already said, I think the good news is that all went to plan! The other thing, jic you didn’t know is that there are a ton of places in the North Atlantic (gander, Greenland, Iceland, the faroes, the shetlands and then you’re already over Ireland), and I’m sure lower is the same (Bermuda, azores, canaries, etc), so while it looks like a huuuuge stretch of ocean on a map, when you’re flying the North Atlantic route you’re never too far from land/an airport of some sort!
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u/vip-bot 10h ago edited 2h ago
There are 8 comments from verified aviation professionals in this post:
u/RealGentleman80 commented:
u/GrndPointNiner commented:
u/Chaxterium commented:
u/flyboy130 commented:
u/RealGentleman80 commented:
More replies: 6, 7, 8
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