http://www.examiner.com/x-678-Aviation-Examiner~y2008m8d25-Air-Travelers-Su= rvival-Guide-What-Happens-if-an-Aircraft-Loses-an-Engine Air Traveler=E2=80=99s Survival Guide=E2=80=A6 What Happens if an Aircraft = Loses an Engine? POSTED August 25, 5:46 PM James Schmid - Aviation Examiner Some of you might have heard about the emergency landing of a Comair flight= because of engine failure. I want to answer a few questions you may have = on what happens when an airplane loses an engine. Will the airplane fly? Yes, an aircraft is designed to continue flying desp= ite the loss of an engine. A three or four engine aircraft can actually kee= p going to its intended destination with the loss of a single engine. A tw= o engine aircraft; however, must land immediately at the nearest safe airpo= rt. How can an aircraft keep flying with only one engine? Each airplane is des= igned to be flown on either engine for a period of time. Certain portions o= f the engine operation, like air conditioning, are immediately disengaged a= llowing the single engine thrust to solely be used to maintain flight. On one engine, how do I know the airplane will not run into something? Whe= n a flight is planned, one of the regulation requirements is to be able to = maintain an altitude that will be at least one thousand feet above the high= est obstacle. In other words, if there is a fourteen thousand foot mountain= in front of you, the airplane must maintain an altitude of at least fiftee= n thousand feet. In order to accomplish this, each aircraft has a drift dow= n chart that will give the altitude the particular plane can maintain. Befo= re the plane takes off, each airline must prove that the route selected wil= l comply with this requirement. What happens if it fails during takeoff? Most commercial aircraft have a d= evice that allows the surviving engine to increase power to one hundred and= ten percent capacity to help the plane takeoff and maintain a safe altitud= e. Like in flight, the airline must prove at takeoff the airplane is light = enough to still clear all obstacles (buildings, trees, towers etc) by at le= ast one thousand feet. Does the pilot have experience with flying without an engine? Each pilot is= trained in a simulator on how to handle an engine failure. After the initi= al training, the pilot must go back for recurrent training once or twice a = year to make sure he or she is prepared for this situation. While nothing is fool proof, aircraft designers and airlines have spent man= y years developing technology and procedures to protect passengers from thi= s dangerous situation. =0A=0A=0A <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".