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Planes with four engines are certainly not designed to fly with 3 of 4 engines out...

• Piskvorrr 11y ago
  Indeed, planes are not designed to be flown in that configuration normally, but they are certainly capable of single-engine flight in emergency situations (where the alternative would be "flying like a ton of bricks"). Exhibit A: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9
  • jonnycowboy 11y ago
    No, actually "capable of flying" means capable of performing all flight maneuvers required for safe flight and landing, including takeoff, go-around and approach/landing. BA Flight 9 failed all four engines, normally not survivable - but managed to restart all four engines by windmilling. So they recovered in time for landing.
    • Piskvorrr 11y ago
      Okay, under that definition, you are correct. Note that the flight later lost engine #2 again (incidentally making the record of five engine failures on a single flight), so it landed with 3 engines operational.
    • fransan 11y ago
      Just curious, where did you find that definition of "capable of flying"? Because under that definition a glider ( unless it is a motorize glider ) is not "capable of flying".