4 ms·

It's the four-engine design. They just suck down fuel like crazy. As a passenger, I like the redundancy of having four engines for trans-ocean flight. But it

by chiph 10y ago

It's the four-engine design. They just suck down fuel like crazy. As a passenger, I like the redundancy of having four engines for trans-ocean flight. But it looks like the modern two-engine planes with high-bypass engines have proven themselves to be "reliable enough", as well as more fuel-efficient.

hodgesrm 10y ago
I can think of only one ETOPS-rated aircraft in recent history that got into trouble due to multiple engine failure. That was flight 38 at Heathrow in 2008, which crashed short of the runway due to ice buildup in the fuel system.[1] So it's definitely rare. Personally I love 777s--part of the attraction is the monster turbofans. Most long-range models have GE90 engines, which are total beasts. They incidentally have extremely low shutdown rates. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_38 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_38
- blakeyrat 10y ago
  It's also worth noting that we've learned the hard way that many types of accidents take-out all four engines simultaneously-- like British Airways Flight 9 in 1982 which accidentally flew through a volcanic flume and lost all four engines. The 777 is my favorite also, it's a beautiful well-designed and well-built plane with an almost unbelievable safety record. (Barring being sabotaged by the pilot, or being shot down by a surface-to-air missile, which are hardly things you can blame on the aircraft itself.)
  - hodgesrm 10y ago
    Upvote from one triple 7 fan to another. I love those planes. The Heathrow flight 38 crash was the first hull loss in the history of the 777 program: not bad considering the first commercial flight was in 1995. Still have not flown in a 787 as I mostly fly United and they don't have too many of them in the fleet yet. Ironically it's mostly 747s on the routes I regularly fly to Europe so I get to experience them regularly along with the odd A-380. (The latter a comfortable ride but just no poetry in the thing. It looks like a squashed frog.)
  - gajjanag 10y ago
    My fascination with the 777 lead me to a great documentary on Rolls Royce and jet engine manufacture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfomloUg2Gw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfomloUg2Gw. Note that Rolls Royce faces stiff competition with chiefly General Electric as the engine supplier for the 777 line.

by chiph 10y ago

hodgesrm 10y ago

I can think of only one ETOPS-rated aircraft in recent history that got into trouble due to multiple engine failure. That was flight 38 at Heathrow in 2008, which crashed short of the runway due to ice buildup in the fuel system.[1] So it's definitely rare. Personally I love 777s--part of the attraction is the monster turbofans. Most long-range models have GE90 engines, which are total beasts. They incidentally have extremely low shutdown rates. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_38 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_38

blakeyrat 10y ago
It's also worth noting that we've learned the hard way that many types of accidents take-out all four engines simultaneously-- like British Airways Flight 9 in 1982 which accidentally flew through a volcanic flume and lost all four engines. The 777 is my favorite also, it's a beautiful well-designed and well-built plane with an almost unbelievable safety record. (Barring being sabotaged by the pilot, or being shot down by a surface-to-air missile, which are hardly things you can blame on the aircraft itself.)
- hodgesrm 10y ago
  Upvote from one triple 7 fan to another. I love those planes. The Heathrow flight 38 crash was the first hull loss in the history of the 777 program: not bad considering the first commercial flight was in 1995. Still have not flown in a 787 as I mostly fly United and they don't have too many of them in the fleet yet. Ironically it's mostly 747s on the routes I regularly fly to Europe so I get to experience them regularly along with the odd A-380. (The latter a comfortable ride but just no poetry in the thing. It looks like a squashed frog.)
- gajjanag 10y ago
  My fascination with the 777 lead me to a great documentary on Rolls Royce and jet engine manufacture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfomloUg2Gw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfomloUg2Gw. Note that Rolls Royce faces stiff competition with chiefly General Electric as the engine supplier for the 777 line.