On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 17:11:48 +0100, Keith Willshaw wrote:

"Jack" wrote in message
...
in article ,
at wrote on 2003/08/14 23:41:

...I'd imagine that PK on a liner taking off, is near 1. Most of them
have
two engines now. Good luck gaining altitude with one out.

PK might be near one, but not because of limited single engine capability
with modern airliners.

Modern airliners are required to have very good single engine
capability to operate on oceanic routes. Do a google search
for ETOPS

Airliners are also required to be able to climb after an engine failure
during takeoff at maximum takeoff weight. This means that modern twin
engined airliners have a substantially larger power reserve than older
multi-engine airliners (a 747 can meet the requirements with three out
of four engines operating, but a 767 has to meet them with only one
engine.)

A sudden engine failure during or shortly after takeoff would harder
to deal with than an engine failure during cruise, it's true. However,
airline pilots receive extensive training on how to handle various
emergencies, and engine failure during takeoff is one of the ones
they concentrate on.

With modern simulators, pilots today are probably better prepared to
handle an engine failure during takeoff or landing than they used to
be. When most training was conducted in actual aircraft instead of
simulators, simulating an engine failure during a critical phase of
flight was too dangerous to do routinely. In a simulator, it doesn't
matter if the trainee screws up several times before he learns how
to handle it.


ljd