Res Ipsa wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 1:42 pm
Lem wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 5:58 am
A six seater plane has aisles?
Hi Lem,
I read it as a small commuter plane with six passengers on board, not a six seat plane.
Hi Res and Lem,
Like Lem, I assumed this story to be about a 6 to 10 place
private twin aircraft with piston engines (Piper Navajo or Cessna 402, etc.), flying from SLC to St. George.
Unless this took place long ago, small commuter planes would have had turboprop engines and a co-pilot. There would have likely been fire extinguishers in the engine nacelles, even though turboprops
very seldom experience engine fires.
The probability of the events described (e.g., spinning the aircraft as a result of an engine out event) taking place in a professionally piloted and lightly loaded turboprop commuter would be close to zero. Six passengers aboard a 15 passenger Beach 99, or similar, would be such a light load that an engine out could be easily handled by a crew of two in the cockpit. If a plane is mechanically able to sustain controlled flight, under power or gliding, it's likely that a competent aircrew can bring everyone down safely.
Fatal commercial passenger aircraft accident reports are available online, including on Wikipedia. In a
cursory inspection looking for turboprop commuter aircraft accidents as a consequence of one engine out, I found none.
Engine out problems? Consider Captain Sully Sullenberger, who ditched an Airbus safely in the Hudson River with both engines out and no serious injuries. This feat was preceded by an aircrew in the 1950s. These guys landed a passenger prop plane in the ocean near Hawaii when two of its four piston engines failed. (Nothing close to Sullenberger's feat, but big news at the time.) Again, no casualties.
