Well, all aircraft have a glide ratio, and large airliners have a surprisingly good one (on the other hand my Cherokee glides like a brick). The funny thing is that this has already been tested, at least on a 747. Some years ago a 747, flying at night, flew through a cloud of volcanic ash near Indonesia and as a result ALL FOUR engines failed in short order. As memory recalls they set up a glide and were headed for one of the islands but might have required ditching. Fortunately they were able to get some re-lit and managed to land, but with an opaque windscreen (sandblasted). With typical droll British understatement the captain announced over the PA: "This is your Captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress". I have a book at home with a description of the event. By all standards the crew should be credited with heroic airmanship. The accident happened in 1982. Mike Gammon ----- Original Message ----- From: <UPSplane@aol.com> To: <AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU> Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 11:19 PM Subject: On a wing and a prayer.... > I saw the NBC TV special on Tuesday night about the Air Transat A330 that > lost power to both engines over the Atlantic from YYZ-LIS... > Just curious folks, but what are the chances of a 747 or say a DC10/MD11 > being able to glide like that for over a half hour without engine power and > land the way the A330 did?? These seem a lot bulkier in the aerodynamics dept > than the A330 or even the Gimli Glider AC 767 from a few year back. > > > Carlos Borda > Carlos' Airliner Images! > http://members.aol.com/upsplane/homepage.html > http://airliners.net/search/photo.search?emailsearch=upsplane@aol.com > <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> >