Is it safe to fly? - 3

All, if not most big mordern jets have at least two engines(normally hanged below the airplane wings). Therefore, if so unfortunately one of the engine is down during the flight, there is still another to keep the plane running. In fact, with only one engine, the airplane is still able to accomplish it's mission given a suitable running distant. Safe landing is definately achievable with one running engine. Having two engines or more actually means less stress for the engines as the load is evenly distributed among them. Also, it means less chances for the plane to fly with no engine running.

What if both or all the engines are down? This is a big question. Fortunately, chances of occurance is slim. Nevertheless, if this really happens, then it is a big headache to pilots. In the case when there is no longer any thrust produce from the engine/s in a flight, it is not as fatal that most would think it will be. Although there isn't any more thrust to push the plane, pilots are still able to glide the plane to land safely. Depending on the altitude and the exact location of the plane and given enough time to react, pilots can execute emergency landing at the nearest airport. On the other hand, if the plane is flying above a huge water body, pilots can choose to land on the waters then seek aid immediately.

Travelling in jets is very much safer nowadays. In fact, almost everything in a modern jet comes in pairs to increase the safety aspect in flying. The controls in the cockpit(shown on the left) and the engines etc. comes in pairs. Even pilots comes in pairs for long haul flights too. In other words, there are two main pliots and two co-pilots to cater for long flying distant. There are also several emergency signals such as air turbulence warning signal to inform pilots of what is ahead or what has happened in order for them to react to the situation accordingly. In my next post about flying, we will talk of some interesting facts about pilots.