Who's afraid of flying? (Or why aircraft engines explode)
Of exploding engines, snoozing pilots and other trivia that won't keep you awake at night because you're probably not flying these days.
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THE often quoted bromide that it is safer to fly by air than to cross the road does little to salve the nerves of frequent flyers and disconsolate chickens when aircraft engines start exploding. After all, the engine is what keeps these metal cylinders aloft in a precarious tussle with gravity as weight, thrust, lift and drag battle one another.
Yet, aircraft engines do give out, and quite frequently. But all is not lost. Despite the spectacular Feb 20 United Airlines (UA) engine blowout over Denver that resulted in the grounding of several older B777-200s and 300s using Pratt & Whitney 4000 engines, most such failures in recent years have not resulted in fatalities.
This is due in part to lessons learned after a tragic crash landing at Sioux City, Iowa, in 1989 involving a UA DC-10 whose tail engine exploded sending deadly shrapnel through the fuselage, crippling hydraulics. Aircraft manufacturers took a long hard look at jet engine design and placement to better protect vital control systems and to limit catastrophic failures.
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