http://www.satori.org/2004/10/freaky-sight/ Mark DeLoura's happy place. On games technology and other things. Sat, 14 Jan 2012 21:24:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.satori.org/2004/10/freaky-sight/comment-page-1/#comment-92 brian Tue, 05 Oct 2004 23:41:55 +0000 http://www.satori.org/?p=88#comment-92 i can't remember the details, but when you read about how commercial airliners' performance correlates with which engines are working, it's pretty crazy. i think it's something vaguely like: a 747-or-larger aircraft can function correctly with half of its engines off. and even if all your engines fail, a good pilot apparently can glide a 747 for a good while, like 20 miles or so, enough probably for an emergency descent and landing if you're not over water. or i might be making all of this up. i just remember checking into airplane safety out of curiosity a few years ago and being really surprised how fault-tolerant these things are. i can’t remember the details, but when you read about how commercial airliners’ performance correlates with which engines are working, it’s pretty crazy. i think it’s something vaguely like: a 747-or-larger aircraft can function correctly with half of its engines off.
and even if all your engines fail, a good pilot apparently can glide a 747 for a good while, like 20 miles or so, enough probably for an emergency descent and landing if you’re not over water.
or i might be making all of this up. i just remember checking into airplane safety out of curiosity a few years ago and being really surprised how fault-tolerant these things are.

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