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You are here: Home / Science / Can a large commercial jet glide to a landing if it loses its engines or will it just drop like a rock?

Can a large commercial jet glide to a landing if it loses its engines or will it just drop like a rock?

April 26, 2020 by Karen Hill

A lot of nervous fliers have come under the impression that passenger jets will pretty much fall out of the sky if all the engines fail.

The truth is that large planes can glide about as well as small ones. In fact, sometimes while landing a pilot will put the engines into idle and let the plane simply glide onto the runway.

That’s the reassuring part. What makes gliding to earth more dangerous with a large commercial jet is that it goes faster and builds more momentum as it descends and therefore requires a longer emergency runway than a small plane does.

Finding one of these quickly can be a challenge.

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Filed Under: Science

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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