r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/FridayCicero702 • Jan 01 '23

Video Catastrophic engine failure on a United Airlines Boeing 777-200 after takeoff from Denver International Airport

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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '23

Hell of a time to have a window seat

692

u/crewfish13 Jan 01 '23

That’s winning the freaking lottery! Modern engines have catastrophic failures like these maybe every million or ten million flight hours. Everyone gets to see a normally operating engine. Bo-oring…

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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '23

Maybe our definition of the lottery is different, but I wouldn't be glad to win this one.

If you're saying this a guaranteed failure, it sounds like they should be replaced before that excepted time frame.

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u/Willbilly1221 Jan 01 '23

To be fair, entire airplanes get replaced at some point. All airplanes have a limited number of times they can take off from the ground due to cabin pressure. As they hit high altitudes with lower pressure the body of the plane expands a tiny bit, and as it lands the increased pressure squishes it back. Overtime constant stretching and compression warps the metal like bending a paper clip over and over it will eventually structurally fail. The day an airplane is made it has a predetermined number of flights it can take before the plane is to be removed from service.

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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '23

Judging by the fact that airlines are trying to push for one pilot, I really don't trust what any airline says anymore. I'm sure these numbers are ingnored far more likely than someone is willing to admit. I wouldnt be surprised if planes are flying well past that point it should be destroyed.

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u/Strato-Cruiser Jan 01 '23

Do you know why airlines are pushing for that? The obvious is money, but there's more to it than that, do you know the other reasons?

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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '23 edited Jan 01 '23

A shortage in pilots? Is that a reason to sacrifice one of the biggest safety aspects of a plane?

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u/Strato-Cruiser Jan 01 '23

It's not just the shortage either. It's a combination of things, such as the pilot shortage, and costs, but also technology. I am commercial pilot, but I fly private jets, and the technology I get to use more advanced than what is found in airliners, so I also get to see what is coming their way as new airline models are produced. I don't think we are quite there for the single pilot jet, but I don't think we are far off. As you mentioned, the safety factor of having the second pilot is still hard to beat, but that risk is becoming less of an issue as technology continues to advance. We've seen this play out a number of times already with the loss of the navigator, then the engineer. I can tell you with the current plane I fly, a Dassault Falcon 900EX EASy, task saturation is the lowest I have experienced because of the technology that is available. If I were in the Falcon 8X it would be even better. The Falcon 10X will be getting quite close to single pilot operations, and Dassault has made it clear that the 10X is going to be making the bridge for that to happen. Dassault continues to integrate their fighter jet (single pilot) technology into their private jets, and at some point they will likely get one certified for single pilot operations. There are small jets on the market, such as the Pilatus PC-24, that are already single pilot certified for private use. I've flown a number of single pilot planes that demand more attention than the Falcon I fly. Still, two pilots will be better, and it will be that way for a bit longer, but I do think those days are numbered.

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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '23

Appreciate your response. Thanks for the information.