https://abcnews.go.com/US/plane-debris-lands-colorado-house/story?id=76020616 Cowl parts fall in neighborhood Onboard footage burning engine... Tweet— Twitter API (@user) date
That part appears to be the leading edge of the nacelle intake. Gives one a good idea of the size and the diameter of those engines.
Engine is (was) a Pratt & Whitney 4077. I read one article that said United has had two similar incidents previously one in 2016 and one in 2018. Both with Pratt powered 777-200s. Apparently the GE90 has had three uncontained failures on a 777 (BA, JAL & Thai) as well - is the cowling defective? Regards, Art S. Pic is from 2018, not today: https://www.businessinsider.com/airliners-can-fly-on-a-single-engine-2018-2 Image Unavailable, Please Login
The cowling is not designed to contain flying engine parts. It is aluminum, and plastic designed to provide smooth aerodynamic flow around the engine. . The airplane would be flyable even if the engine dropped off. Interesting and exciting footage of the failure.
Anyone going to throw foul play into the mix? It’s just an odd scenario, 99% engine failures are just compressor issues, I still don’t buy it was a failure, I thought compression chambers and turbines were designed to contain? Also why’s the pilot taking for ever to shut it down? You’ve got a pretty substantial uncontrolled fire on your hands... Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
I still wonder about the safety of having only two engines on something this big headed over the ocean? Have they ever tested what happens when the plane flies with only one engine for 4 hours? Everything has to be extra torqued because of the single side thrust no?
I spent the last 10 years of my career flying to various cities in Europe with two engines. The reliability of the engines was exceptional, the majority of issues came from medical emergencies or passengers being intoxicated.
Twin engine airliners are very reliable. Only push to the limits would be over the North Pole in the dead of winter wich several airlines do. The temps at altitude are near the limits of the engines performance window, although they only go to 20,000 feet during the deep winter as the atmosphere drops due to the extreme cold air's density .
Apparently there was another engine failure on another Boeing ... a 747 being used as a cargo plane out of the Netherlands. WTF is the relevance? I bet that this happens far more frequently on cargo aircraft but WO passengers who cares as much ... no?
I've flown over 300 flights between the US and Hong Kong. I've seen about everything (including drunks or crazy people who had to be handcuffed) but once we had a passenger die on a flight from HKG to SFO. We turned around and diverted to Honolulu and landed at 4:30 AM - several hours before US customs opened. Then 400 people got off the plane at once and tried to find a way to get to San Francisco when almost every plane was already sold out. A complete mess. I've never seen an engine problem but we did have a leaking fuel tank once and another time a cracked windscreen. My point about it was a good thing that it happened on take off is if the passengers had to endure this for 4 hours it would have driven most loony.
The airplane would have made it. The 777 was tested extensively to do it. This airplane was number 5 in the initial line of production and it performed as it should have. The engine had reached a point of failure. Again, the cowling is a relatively delicate structure of thinner aluminum and plastic material and not designed to do anything but to streamline the airflow around the engine and not to contain a fan blade that has the speed and power of a 20mm shell when it is fired from the fan disc. The aircrew did a great job.
Wonder if the 747 had P&W engines, too? Boeing does not make the choice of engines, the airline does out of the ones that are certified.
