Question: If the engines quit at 30,000 feet, how far can a jetliner glide? -- submitted by reader Tonya Washington, Alexandria, Va. Answer: It would vary depending upon the wind, but around 100 miles would be a good estimate.
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The lift-drag ratio for commercial airliners is about 16:1. The distance that a 747 could glide is a function of altitude. Gliding from cruise altitude of 30,000 ft, or about five miles would have a range of 80 miles.
For example, with a glide ratio of 15:1, a Boeing 747-200 can glide for 150 kilometres (93 mi; 81 nmi) from a cruising altitude of 10,000 metres (33,000 ft).
One serving long-haul captain based in the UK explained to MailOnline Travel that 'typically a jet can glide about two miles for each 1,000ft of altitude'. He continued: 'So at 40,000ft cruise altitude the range of the aircraft to touchdown is about 80 miles.
Commercial jetliners have a limited elevation ceiling of about 45,000 feet. While corporate aircraft can fly higher, slightly above 50,000 feet, they are specifically designed for such purposes. However, reaching an altitude of 60,000 feet would require super-efficient engines and glider-like wings.
Without engine thrust, a 747-200 has a glide ratio of roughly 15:1, meaning it can glide forward 15 kilometres for every kilometre it drops. The flight crew quickly determined that the aircraft was capable of gliding for 23 minutes and covering 91 nautical miles (169 km) from its flight level of 37,000 feet (11,000 m).
Flight 236 glided for nearly 75 miles. After gliding for nearly 75 miles or 121 kilometres, the plane touched down hard in Lajes, around 1,030 feet (310 m) past the runway threshold of runway 33, at a speed of around 200 knots at 06:45 UTC.
On August 24, 2001, an Air TransatAirbus A330 performed the longest-ever glide on a commercial aircraft before landing in the Azores. Without engine power, the aircraft glided for nearly 75 miles or 121 kilometres.
The highest verified altitude you can skydive from in the United States is 30,000 feet. For context, this is in the range of standard cruising altitude for a commercial airline and about 7 miles up. In other words, much higher than your average skydive at 10,000 feet or nearly 2 miles up!
Techincally, there is only one way for the aircraft to remain hanging motionless in the air: if weight and lift cancel each other out perfectly, and at the same time thrust and drag cancel each other out too. But this is incredibly rare. To stay in the air and sustain its flight, an aircraft needs to be moving forward.
According to flight attendant Brenda Orelus, the dirties place on an airplane is not the lavatory or the tray tables. It is the seat-back pockets. IN a video that Orelus posted on TikTok she revealed to her more than 100,000 followers that the pockets are full of germs and are almost never cleaned.
Some aircraft damage from lightning strikes includes broken lighting and windows, deformed antenna placements, and onboard electronics malfunctions. Other abnormalities or warnings on the flight deck, such as cabin air pressurization problems or false alarms, can occur after your airplane has been struck by lightning.
Commercial airliners, such as the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A380, have a range of around 8,000 to 8,500 nautical miles. This means that they can fly for up to 20 hours without refueling, allowing them to travel long distances across the globe.
Flying at a typical altitude of 36,000 feet (about seven miles), an aircraft that loses both engines will be able to travel for another 70 miles before reaching the ground.