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Monday, 12 May 2008
Home arrow Flying on the Boeing 777 arrow What happens when one engine on the Boeing 777 fails during take off?
Monday, 12 May 2008
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What happens when one engine on the Boeing 777 fails during take off?

Written by Capt Lim, on 13-12-2007

Published in : Flying, Flying on the Boeing 777


Hello Capt Lim, I read your comments about flying with one engine. I was on a Newark - Denver on a Boeing 777 yesterday that had the left engine failed during the takeoff roll. We were just getting started, so it was no biggie. But I wonder what might happen if we were past the point of stopping in time? Thanks, Bill

Hi Bill, That was a very good question. All pilots have been trained to recognize at least three important speeds prior to take off, namely V1, VR and V2 .

V1 is the take off decision speed whereby if the take off is continued after an engine failure, it will be possible to continue the take off safely.
It is also the speed whereby, if the Captain abandoned the take off, it will be possible to bring the aircraft to a safe stop within the remaining Runway.

VR is the rotation speed where the Captain begins to rotate the aircraft to lift off attitude and climb away safely.

V2 is the Take Off Safety and Initial Climb Speed to achieve a certain height at a certain distance.

I would not like to bore you with further related technicalities but your question was, what might happen if you were past the point of stopping in time? Well you are then above the V1 Speed (if I interpret your question correctly) and the Captain's decision is to continue the take off without any problem. He has to make a quick decision either to go or no-go. ' Go' means continue after V1 and 'no-go' means abort the take off before V1.

The Captain in the B777 you referred to must have aborted the take-off before V1 and he was very sure he could stop within the remaining Runway. So he would not have the problem of not stopping in time. If he had made a bad decision that would not allow him to stop in time, (depending on the length of the Runway), it would we quite disastrous.

Anyway, the B777 is a very safe and comfortable aircraft to fly as a passenger and all B777 pilots are checked on handling engine failures and aborted take offs every six months.

I hope I have answered your question. Have a safe flight always !

Hi Capt Lim, Thank you for a very interesting answer. So, a Boeing 777 CAN take off safely with only one engine then? Thanks Bill

Hi Bill, Just a small clarification.. You don't plan to take off with one engine.. you only continue to take off with one engine, PROVIDED the aircraft speed has passed V1 (about 145 to 180 mph, depending on weight of aircraft) after an engine failure!


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1. 07-03-2008

Another 777 engine failure
I was on an AA flight from Delhi to Chicago in Dec. 2006 and we lost the left engine at V1 as we started to rotate. Flames shot 2ft forward and (as I was told), 30ft backwards from the engine; must have been spectacular from the ground at night. The pilot shut down the left engine, and took the plane up to around 3,000 ft. He dumped about 50,000 lbs of fuel for 11 of the 13 minutes of the flight; the landing on one engine was perfect. The pilot sat in front of me the next night and said that it was just like the flight simulators - I truly wonder how good the 777 engines really are.
Andrew

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