Earlier this month, a Malta Air flight operating a Ryanair service experienced an in-flight engine shutdown due to a sun visor detaching and hitting engine levers onboard the flight deck. While this resulted in the flight crew declaring urgency to the control tower, the crew was able to restart the engine and continue their flight to the intended destination.
There were no injuries reported onboard, and the aircraft landed at its destination 29 minutes behind schedule. Since the aircraft is registered within the state of Malta, the state has decided to open an investigation.
Detached Sun Visor Shuts Down Engine
Ryanair Group’s Malta Air flight earlier this month suffered an engine shutdown on its flight from Krakow (KRK), Poland, to Milan Bergamo (BGY), Italy. According to The Aviation Herald, the aircraft involved was a four-year-old Boeing 737 MAX 8200, which had its flight deck sun visor detach from its position and collide against engine control levers, which subsequently resulted in the engine shutdown.
Additional data corroborated by data from FlightRadar24 shows that this happened when the aircraft was performing its initial climb-out from Krakow, at an altitude of around 8,000 feet. Due to the nature of the incident and the low altitude, the flight crew made the “PAN PAN” call on the radio, declaring urgency (NOT DISTRESS). The aircraft climbed to Flight Level 100 (FL 100), where it maintained its level until the crew managed to restart the engine, before canceling the “PAN PAN”, continuing its climb, and proceeding to the destination.
Simple Flying has reached out to the airline. Any response received will be updated in this article. Reports indicate that the state of Malta has opened an investigation, and Times of Malta reported the following statement from the Ryanair Group,
“As this is subject of an ongoing investigation, which we are cooperating fully with, we are unable to comment.”
Operating With Only One Engine
While in this case it was not an engine failure, but more to do with a sun visor hitting the engine controls, many might find the prospect of flying with only one engine to be a little scary. While this was certainly the case decades ago, when certain technologies were in their infancy or did not exist, which is why manufacturers designed aircraft with three or four engines for additional redundancy, this is no longer the situation now.
Most jet aircraft flying today are capable of safely landing at the nearest suitable airport in the event of an engine failure, and the ability for an aircraft to perform in such conditions are, of course, tested by manufacturers during its certification process, and procedures are established as well. Furthermore, engine failure and related procedures are also taught to pilots and are part of their recurrent simulator sessions, because, despite aviation being the safest mode of transportation and the chances of such occurrences are low, it is still important for pilots to know how to react in such situations, especially because of all the automation and techonologies available to the pilots these days.
Additionally, with systems and technologies improving and airlines being able to fly further, ETOPS has also been improving. ETOPS stands for “Extended-range Twin-engine Operations Performance Standards,” and this rating on an aircraft essentially defines how long an aircraft can be away from the nearest suitable airport when flying at the aircraft’s rated speed for single-engine cruising. Higher ETOPS certification is what allowed twin-engined jets to fly across the oceans more efficiently and directly, and this is now also allowing narrow body aircraft types belonging to the Boeing 737 MAX family and Airbus A320neo family to operate across the Transatlantic Markets.
The Widebody Aircraft Flying The Most ETOPS Routes In The World
The Boeing 777 has flown more ETOPS routes than any other commercial aircraft.
Difference Between “PAN PAN” And “MAYDAY” Callouts
The aforementioned “PAN PAN” callout is an internationally recognized emergency call that pilots can use to indicate there is an emergency or urgency onboard. However, it is worth noting that the callout implies that, despite the state of emergency or urgency, the situation currently is not life-threatening, but if no action is taken, it can lead to the situation worsening or being classified as a “MAYDAY”.
Speaking of which, the “MAYDAY” callout is the more recognized international callout for distress, which the aviation industry adapted from the maritime industry. An aircraft making this callout indicates that immediate action is required to prevent loss of life or any form of catastrophe. As such, an aircraft that calls out “MAYDAY” will always be given priority.
Often, if time allows, a “MAYDAY” call will be accompanied by the aircraft using the squawk code 7700 (internationally recognized distress code) on its transponder.
