If a plane looses it's engines, why can't it go into a nose dive then pull up and glide into a crash landing?

Answer 1

Airplanes do glide. Many a small plane has lost engine power and glided into a landing. And they don't have to nosedive first to do it. However, the larger and heavier the plane, the more wing surface it needs to glide. Large passenger planes would need wings so large, they couldn't fit onto the plane. that is why they need speed to stay aloft. Moving through the air increases the volume of air passing across the airfoil, creating lift. A 747 is far too large and heavy, and it's wings are far too small to be able to glide very far or very long.

Answer 2

As your question suggests you have learned, it is the movement of the wings through the air that provides the lift to hold an airplane up. The effect of "losing" an engine, or all engines, by which I assume you mean the engine(s) cease to produce power, varies widely with conditions.

In ordinary flight with good visual conditions, any airplane can glide a considerable distance, and every pilot is trained thoroughly in the proper procedures.

The person who posted the idea that a jet airliner will "Fall out of the sky" is very foolish and should learn something before posting answers on subjects he/she doesn't know anything about. Seriously.

An airliner like a 7n7 has about the same glide ratio as that of a small single engine propeller aircraft. That is, the Airbus or 7n7 can glide safely for miles and miles if the engines pack up for some reason at a high altitude.

What you call a "nose dive" is not necessary. The pilot simply transitions to the configuration that gives the best glide ratio, and starts (a) looking for a place to land, and (b) seeing if the engine or engines can be re-started. You also call on 121.5 mHz and report your situation. Other frequencies in other countries.

Also, the person who reported the comments of "air force pilots" has had his leg pulled, and needs to go ask for it back. Most combat jets, while they don't glide as well as airliners or light planes, are okay and can be glided to a safe landing.

Of course in any airplane if you can't find a level, smooth place to set it down, you may bend up some sheet metal in the process, but the chances of making a survivable landing off-airport are good in most places. The airplanes are designed to take it.

Where the problems arise are when you are out in the middle of the ocean, or cannot see the ground because of clouds or darkness. You still have perfect control of the machine, but your options are limited.

But folks, please find out what you are talking about before writing things that are not true about "airliners falling from the sky" and other things of that kind.

Answer 3

The pilot can certainly choose that course of action if he'd like but that is not the optimum choice. There are different procedures for different aircraft, but, if a single engine aircraft loses it's engine, the best course of action is to pitch the nose down, losing altitude slowly, until the airspeed reaches the maximum distance glide speed. (This is around 78 knots in a Piper Warrior). This will enable a pilot to locate a find spot to land in the event power can not be recovered. Depending on altitude, the pilot could have up to 10 minutes (or more) of glide time before he will touch the ground.

Some single engine military fighter aircraft are extremely unstable and are flown via computer controllers with directional inputs from pilots. They have very heavy wing loading and drop like a rock without power and may be uncontrollable.

Multi-engine aircraft can generally continue to fly (and even climb) with a loss of one engine. If all engines are lost the pilot should be able to land it in the same manner. Do a Yahoo! search on "Gimli Glider" and read the story about fuel starvation leading to all power loss on a Boeing 767-200.

The space shuttle lands as a glider and essentially goes into a very steep nose dive (compared to airplanes) after atmospheric re-entry and does a considerable pitch-up maneuver (flare) very close to the ground prior to landing. The computer generally flies much better than a human can and is key to giving the human pilot prompting for appropriate maneuvers. I've landed it many times (on a simulator, of course).

An unpowered landing (called "deadstick") is only a "crash" landing in the even the terrain is unfriendly and/or the pilot crashes the plane. Most of the time a safe landing is accomplished where the plane and pilot are no worse for the wear. Almost every landing I make is essentially unpowered. Once I'm on final I cut power to idle (if too low, add power) and glide right onto the runway with a small flare.

Answer 4

I have nothing to do with the field, and I know that modern planes possess sophisticated means to pull of things that look almost impossible on the surface, by incorporating other principles, other than the obvious lift and nose-dive throttle.

But may I just say this:

All things being equal, and if the manouvre was simply as you say, then the only way I can see this working, as you describe it, anyway, is if the ocean were to open up like Moses parting the Red Sea, so that you could dive lower than sea level, and then you would simply pull back on the 'wheel' to gain height again, til you reached the point of equilibrium [aided by the friction that would slow your craft down], to the point where your craft was simply gliding smoothly just above sea level.
From there, the matter of landing the craft would become much easier!!!

Well, you did say that after the dive, you "then pull up and glide in..".
As I see it, the only way you can pull up to land the craft is if you are already BELOW landing height!!

But, you would need the Dead Sea [which is below sea level], or Moses or Joshua to pull it off!!

But I am so glad that, due to learned men and pilots such as those speaking before my answer, I am in the safe hands of modern aviation, rather than your, solely, throttle proposal!!

Answer 5

This question does not include enough information to really answer. All planes are required to be able to glide so far by FAA, but some planes don't glide as far as others this is why a small biplane might succesfully pull this off yet a boeing 747 is less likely too.

Answer 6

depends on the plane.... most single engine props can do that cuz it's nose heavy, and the wings give enough lift to glide (in fact, they teach you that in pilot school). I've also heard about 747s doing that... gliding to a safe landing. But I don't think fighter jets can glide like that... not enough speed to generate enough lift to keep the heavy plane in the air.

Answer 7

their is no need to nose dive first. in most aircraft for every 10,000 feet of altitude you can glide for 13 miles if the engine/s stops. I am a pilot. the first answer is wrong they do not teach you to nose dive in flight school.

Answer 8

A small, light weight propeller driven craft might pull this gliding maneuver off, but when a jetliner looses its speed (stall) it is so heavy and bulky that it simply falls uncontrollably out of the sky. It must maintain forward thrust to provide the air speed over the wings to maintain the lift that keeps it in the air.

Answer 9

I asked some air force pilots that same question and their answer was that the G-forces in pulling up from the nose dive would rip the wings off most planes. I guess the devil is in the details?

Answer 10

It could very well do what you say, but alot depends on the details like altitude, air speed, controlability of the craft, etc. In general small aircraft can convert their altitude into air speed and follow a flightpath with ever decreasing altitude. Eventually the plane will have to make a forced landing.