I wonder what it would do?

[Alpo]

You have a small twin engine jet. The bad guys are escaping. The plane is getting ready to take off.

(Don't you just love cell phone photographs of a DVD where you stopped something in motion?)

 

But you have a guy with a 308 up on top of the control tower.

 

They didn't do it, but I just got to wondering what would happen if he put a bullet or two (or five or six) in one of those engines. While I understand that a twin engine plane can fly with one engine down, can it take off?

 

Seems like trying to hit the engine on a taxiing plane would be a lot easier than trying to hit a tire. You blow out the nose gear and he's not going to take off but that's an awful small target.

 

(He didn't shoot out the nose gear either. But that seems to be a common television thing. They're escaping, so shoot out their tires.)

[Cypress Sun]

 

I would think that the distinct possibility of the plane crashing into an undesired location (residential neighborhood, hotel, etc) would negate the positives of stopping the criminal by shooting an engine, even if the criminal was an Osama bin Laden type criminal. It could always be shadowed by a military aircraft or even shot down in an area where collateral damage in minimal or non-existent like over the ocean or such.

 

I'm no expert but I would think that losing an engine on takeoff could be catastrophic once rotate speed is attained.

[PowderRiverCowboy]

Well He was one click away from a Headstone That night in my scope 
https://thebutter-cutter.com/The_Flight_Of_LCpl.html

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

Putting a round into an engine would definitely FOD, (Foreign Object Damage), it out. Most twin engine aircraft can fly and land on one engine, (that's why Navy and Marine aircraft have two, even helicopters), but taking off almost certainly wouldn't happen. 

As long as the offending aircraft wasn't already taking off, a bullet into the intake would safely stop it from going far. 

A birdstrike as shown in "Topgun Maverick", while it would almost certainly NOT take out both engines, would probably take out one of them.

[Alpo]

25 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said:

I'm no expert but I would think that losing an engine on takeoff could be catastrophic once rotate speed is attained.

He's not yet taking off. He definitely has not restrictedREACHED ROTATE ("restricted"? damn otto) speed. He's not even on the runway yet. He is taxiing over to the runway. See he's in front of a hanger. They don't have hangers out on the runway.

Edited March 27 by Alpo

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

12 hours ago, Cypress Sun said:

 

I would think that the distinct possibility of the plane crashing into an undesired location (residential neighborhood, hotel, etc) would negate the positives of stopping the criminal by shooting an engine, even if the criminal was an Osama bin Laden type criminal. It could always be shadowed by a military aircraft or even shot down in an area where collateral damage in minimal or non-existent like over the ocean or such.

 

I'm no expert but I would think that losing an engine on takeoff could be catastrophic once rotate speed is attained.

Assuming that a military plane is available at the right place and time and carrying a full load of ammo.

[Hashknife Cowboy]

I know of an actual case where the DEA put a well placed .50 cal. round into one of the turbo prop engines and the pilot grew immediately wise and shut it down.  

[Pat Riot]

I was told a long time ago that having one good engine after losing the second in flight assures you an extra half hour to reach the crash site. 
This may have been regarding prop planes. 

[Sedalia Dave]

OK, Lets first separate what a pilot should do vs what a desperate pilot can do.  With an engine out, a pilot shouldn't even attempt to take off.

 

A desperate pilot would want to get away so they would continue to taxi while shutting down the now damaged engine.  The take off parameters are going to change as the plane will need more runway to achieve take off speed. So, as long as there is enough runway, the AC will still be capable of taking off. Maneuverability will suffer so they will want to avoid maneuvers that exacerbate controlability of the aircraft.

 

Now for other scenarios. 

 

Loosing one engine after starting down the runway will not cause the AC to crash as long as the pilot is competent and well versed in the emergency procedures for that particular AC. This is true for all twin engine AC be they jets or props. The takeoff will not be fun and one little mistake could cause it to crash but on one engine the AC could still take off. One caveat is that all other parameters required for takeoff are within limits. ie: winds, runway length, air density etc. 

 

Modern multi engine AC are designed with enough reserve power to allow them to take off after losing an engine as long as the pilot is competent enough to perform the necessary emergency procedures correctly.

 

[Ozark Huckleberry]

It also depends on whether the shots are from the side, dead-on, in front/behind and above, etc.

 

With the amount empty space inside a jet engine, it's quite possible a bullet (or two, or three, etc.) could miss anything immediately critical and pass through without catastrophic effect, other than a combustion gas leak. Later in flight the effects may impede the engine performance, but that would be after take-off.

 

Put the engine inside a nacelle, and without detailed knowledge of the aircraft, hitting a vital part becomes even more problematic.

 

It all depends on the script, anyway. I guess it'd be best to shoot where the director says to shoot.

[Alpo]

The director said to park your car crosswise in front of the plane, blocking its access to the runway, and then advance toward the plane with your pistol out.

 

I thought that was kind of dumb but I was neither the director nor the screenwriter.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

Since the Air Craft was still onna taxiway, would make much more sense to put the round thru the PILOT.  Dead pilots don't fly airplanes.

[Trailrider #896]

As far as taking off with one engine is concerned, it would depend on how powerful each engine is, and also if both engines were close to the aircraft centerline. If outboard on the wings and you are below Vmc (minimum control speed), and you lose an engine, you pull back power on the good engine or you may wind up on your back, which could ruin your whole day!  At least that is what my IP's taught me when I got my FAA light twin rating. 

[Creeker, SASS #43022]

7 hours ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

Since the Air Craft was still onna taxiway, would make much more sense to put the round thru the PILOT.  Dead pilots don't fly airplanes.

Was thinking the same thing - cockpits are relatively compact; 1, 2 or 3 rifle rounds passing thru would definitely get the pilots attention.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

9 hours ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

Since the Air Craft was still onna taxiway, would make much more sense to put the round thru the PILOT.  Dead pilots don't fly airplanes.

 

1 hour ago, Creeker, SASS #43022 said:

Was thinking the same thing - cockpits are relatively compact; 1, 2 or 3 rifle rounds passing thru would definitely get the pilots attention.

Not to mention that aircraft are made of aluminium, and the skin is THIN aluminum. But if a round or two were to hit the cockpit, and miss the pilot, they could still tear up an instrument panel and damage the controls.