It’s a standard day in Reno, Nevada, and at 6 a.m. local, we are lined up on Runway 16L for takeoff. It’s still dark, and this is our first flight of the day. Thrust has been set and the aircraft accelerates towards liftoff speed. I hear the pilot monitoring say “Vee One,” and the aircraft yaws slightly towards the left as engine number one fails. Luckily, it’s all happening in the simulator.
Considered to be the most critical time an engine can fail, an engine failure during the takeoff can quickly get out of hand. It is during this phase that the aircraft weighs the most, and is low to the ground and relatively slow. Proper training, as well as calm decision making and checklist usage, can make this emergency situation manageable.
Maintaining aircraft control is always your primary goal, and here it is just as important as it is during every takeoff and landing. Turbine-powered engines, especially when mounted at the rear of the fuselage, generate only small amounts of asymmetrical thrust. Regardless, you still work with your feet, the same way you would in a twin piston aircraft, although not as much rudder travel is required to maintain coordination. The new challenge is unintended Dutch roll, which—thanks to swept wings—you can induce when you start playing with the rudders. Small and deliberate corrections with the rudder are essential, and overcontrolling now will only worsen the situation.
Speed control also is important. Strict adherence to the single-engine safety speed, or V2, will ensure adequate obstacle clearance and sufficient performance from the aircraft. You can think of V2 much like best single-engine rate of climb, or VYSE, and just like VYSE it varies with weight.
Today Reno adds a few more complications. With a field elevation of 4,415 feet msl, and surrounded by mountainous terrain rising from 6,000 feet msl to almost 11,000 feet msl, the loss of performance associated with an engine failure provides you with a stressful situation to handle.
Most airlines develop and utilize company-specific engine-failure procedures when terrain or obstacles require them. Some are different than others, yet they all accomplish the same goal: get the aircraft to a safe altitude, clean the aircraft up, and then prepare for a hold or an instrument approach to an appropriate airport—either your departure field or an alternate.
Today we will climb to the south while intercepting the parallel runway’s localizer; for maneuvering flexibility we will then accelerate to V2+10 KIAS. Reaching a specified DME from the 16R localizer, we initiate a 180-degree turn at 20 degrees of bank until pointed directly to a fix on the ILS to 16R. Once established direct, we will then clean up and accelerate the aircraft. After completing the memory items and checklists, it’s time to prepare for a single-engine ILS approach.
Although this procedure is complex and engine failures immediately following a takeoff are already inherently a demanding task, this type of simulator training and practice helps prepare us for the day when it happens for real. Always remember, it isn’t a matter of if an engine will fail, it’s only a matter of when.
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