Simviation Forums

hi all-
i was wondering if this could happen in reality....

b777 @ 37,000' runs out of all fuel...

find the closest airstrip, maintain optimum glidespeed to get there, i would imagine though that the sink rate of a 777 with no engines would make for an impossible landing, but this is what i did...
dive bomb for airstrip piling on as much airspeed as possible, if timed right one can adjust attitude at the last minute so that the vs can be reduced just before impact and just before stalling speed so a soft landing can be achieved.
so does this mean a real 777 that loses both engines can land????
-jason

Yes;

One of the first 757s built, was to Air Canada, and
was improperly fueled, in lb's not liters, and had
less than 1/2 the required fuel load!
It glided 25 miles farther than it was rated and
landed on a old WW2 training runway that was
1000 feet too short!
there was no damage to the aircraft, but so wire
from a fence and no one on the plane was hurt!
This is a standard training flight for airline pilots
now, only about 1/2 can do the landing!!

Brad

There is also a movie about this incident, forgot what it was called though.

Reminds me of Clint Eastwood landing the Space Shuttle in "Space Cowboys."

I read an article in Airliners Magazine a few months ago about an AAL 777 captain who had a similar experience in a simulator.  On approach to KORD the #1 engine sustained a massive bird strike and had to be shut down to prevent a fire.  Worried about staying on course for the approach, the captain, after considering his altitiude and distance to the airport, decided to shut down #2 to avoid asymetrical thrust.  He flew the last 15nm using auxiliary power for the flight controls (including flaps) and landing gear.  The plane touched down just beyond the threshold of RWY 27L at an airspeed of about 140 kts.  So, for a brief period, the 777 was a big, big glider.

Descending to land from FL370 on no power would require good planning, but it seems like it's possible.  I would think the most difficult part would be the approach and landing.  With no power being generated by the engines, the flight controls are going to be sluggish at best.

There is also a movie about this incident, forgot what it was called though.

Gimli Glider is the name which was given to that Air Canada 767 which ran its tanks dry at cruise alt.....the pilot was also a qualified glider pilot and so was used to the procedures for making dead-stick landings.....upon landing, the nose gear collapsed but there was no real fire threat. The worst part of the ordeal for the pilots was that the abandoned airstrip was being used for a car race at the time, and coming in too hot necessitated a slip to burn off height and speed.....all this, while trying to avoid the cars and people on the ground was given as the reason for the nose gear failing.....as I remember reading, the plane was still yawed when contact with the ground occurred ?....I'll get a link to the story and post it here.........


Story here...http://www.wadenelson.com/gimli.html

Thanks Ken, I was working with memory that's
not what it once was!!

Brad

PS just noticed, Miss Kimber didn't logout, Oh well!!

When I checked the story, I found my memory to be a bit shy on some facts, but the general idea was initiated

A final note on the original question.....can you land a 777 or any other A/C when all its power is gone......

Absolute   YES !

The engines stopped !  The wings never fell off ! ....as long as the RAT ( Ram Air Turbine ) deploys, you will have limited hydraulic power for the basic flight controls, ...it won't be easy or light on the inputs, but it is totally feasible, if you have height to convert to speed, and speed is the secret to adequate flight control necessary for maneuvering..........now all you need is a runway within gliding distance at Max L/D.....

The film being referred to is "Falling From The Sky:  Flight 174", and is a really good movie starring William Devane as Captain Bob Pearson.  Costars included Nicholas Tuturro and Mariette Hartley.

hehe....

thanks guys...