747 Pilots... engine failures

[canadian_atc]

Had a 742 go and lose an engine on me last night, brought up some questions.

Now I suppose it depends on total weight and many other factors. But at what point would a single engine failure become an emergency situation if ever?

Does a single engine failure have any effect on preferred direction of turn in a 74?

These are all mostly curious questions from an ATC standpoint.

I know there is the rather famous event of the BAW 74 going from SFO or LAX overseas on three engines.

In this event however the crew requested immediate descent down to FL220 and return to destination... which got me thinking about the differences and why.

Anyway thanks in advance for the replies...

[rjmore]

Originally Posted by canadian_atc

Had a 742 go and lose an engine on me last night, brought up some questions.

Now I suppose it depends on total weight and many other factors. But at what point would a single engine failure become an emergency situation if ever?

Does a single engine failure have any effect on preferred direction of turn in a 74?

These are all mostly curious questions from an ATC standpoint.

I know there is the rather famous event of the BAW 74 going from SFO or LAX overseas on three engines.

In this event however the crew requested immediate descent down to FL220 and return to destination... which got me thinking about the differences and why.

Anyway thanks in advance for the replies...

But at what point would a single engine failure become an emergency situation if ever?

The only thing I could really think of would be if it was an uncontained catastophic failure and it took out something more serious. The other time would be over very high terrain like Y1. Even then we just follow the escape routes.

Does a single engine failure have any effect on preferred direction of turn in a 74?

Nope

I know there is the rather famous event of the BAW 74 going from SFO or LAX overseas on three engines.

In this event however the crew requested immediate descent down to FL220 and return to destination... which got me thinking about the differences and why.

Anyway thanks in advance for the replies...

We actually have provisions to get a three engine flight plan and continue as one engine out is not an emergency situation. BA did it so they could get as close to home as possible. Of course the FAA didn't like passing up so many good alternates, especially BA served alternates that could have fixed the issue.

This particular airplane must have been very heavy if he needed to drift down to FL220. There may have been another problem caused by the fialure that was more serious. It also could just be that his company SOP dictated that he should land at the nearest suitable airport. There are a lot of reasons why he may have chosen to land but not necessarily because it was an emergency.

[Polar742]

Like rj said, it's far more of a nuisance than anything else.

The only critical time, just like any other plane, is a failure on takeoff. Or if it's uncontained, like rj said.

However, in the 400 that rj flies, they just have the butler hand them a checklist, light their pipes, and continue on.

On the classic, we climb out on the wing with a set of tools and work on the motor in flight.

[trafficinsight]

Originally Posted by Polar742

Like rj said, it's far more of a nuisance than anything else.

The only critical time, just like any other plane, is a failure on takeoff. Or if it's uncontained, like rj said.

However, in the 400 that rj flies, they just have the butler hand them a checklist, light their pipes, and continue on.

On the classic, we climb out on the wing with a set of tools and work on the motor in flight.

Down here in GA we just re-wind the rubber band!