Flight Operations Briefing Notes Supplementary Techniques Handling Engine Malfunctions

 
Flight Operations Briefing Notes
 Supplementary Techniques
Handling Engine Malfunctions
I Introduction The failure rate of aircraft engines has reached an all-time low. This means that many flight crews will never face an engine failure during their career, other than those in the flight simulator.
However, simulators are not fully representative of engine failures because accelerations (e.g. due to a failed engine), noise (e.g. caused by an engine stall), or vibrations (e.g. in the event of a blade rupture) are hard to simulate.
Consequently, flight crews are not always able to identify and understand engine malfunctions. Incorrect crew understanding of engine malfunctions can lead to unnecessary engine shutdowns, but also to incidents and accidents.
The objective of this Flight Operations Briefing Note is to:

. Provide basic guidelines to identify engine malfunctions

. Give typical operational recommendations in case of engine malfunctions.

 
II Statistics – Background Information When the jet engine was introduced in civil aviation in the 1950s (de Havilland Comet, Sud-Aviation Caravelle), the available thrust was less than 10,000 lbs.
Today, high by-pass ratio engines produce up to 115,000 lbs of thrust.
 
During the same time, the rate of In-Flight Shut Downs (IFSD) has decreased as follows:

 
 IFSD (per 100,000 engine FH)
 
1960s
 40
 
Today
 Less than 1
 

(Source: AIA/AECMA Project Report on Propulsion System Malfunction + Inappropriate Crew Response, November 1998)
Figure 1
In-Flight Shut Down Rate
In other words:
. In the 1960s, in average each engine failed once a year

. Today, in average, each engine fails every 30 years.

This improvement in the rate of IFSD has allowed the introduction of ETOPS (Extended Twin Operations) in 1985. Among other criteria, to be approved for ETOPS 180, the rate of IFSD must be less than 2 per 100 000 engine flight hours.
This also means that pilots that start their career today will probably never experience an IFSD due to an engine malfunction.
However, despite the significant improvement in engine reliability, the number of accidents (per aircraft departure) due to an incorrect crew response following an engine malfunction has remained constant for many years. This prompted a study with all major industry actors involved (aircraft and engine manufacturers, authorities, accident investigation agencies, pilot organizations).
Among the results were:
. The vast majority of engine malfunctions are identified and handled correctly. However, some malfunctions are harder to identify

. Most crews have little or no experience of real (i.e. not simulated) engine malfunctions

　
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