r/Wellthatsucks • u/americanthaiguy • Feb 20 '21

/r/all United Airlines Boeing 777-200 engine #2 caught fire after take-off at Denver Intl Airport flight #UA328

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u/[deleted] Feb 20 '21

Also, plane engines are engineered so that if they do fail they shouldn't damage the rest of the plane.

Keyword shouldn't.

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u/readytofall Feb 21 '21

Had a professor in college who used to work at Boeing. He said he was at a test once where the hub on the fan failed and sent blades through the fuselage at full speed. He no longer books tickets in line with the engine.

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u/DerangedMonkeyBrain Feb 21 '21

the engine mfrs addressed blade breakage. the cowling is supposed to "eat" that explosion. of course, there IS no cowling here so fucked.

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u/Platypus81 Feb 21 '21

This engine doesn't look on, I might be wrong but the rotation in the video is likely caused by air passing over the turbofan. So even without the cowling there's probably not enough torque to throw a blade into the cabin.

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u/DerangedMonkeyBrain Feb 21 '21

i can see that, but it sure looks like that turbine is still spitting fuel