In brief
- Planes are designed to operate safely if an engine fails
- Pilots regularly practice flying with an engine failure
- Planes won’t fall to the ground, but are designed to gently glide to a safe landing
What happens if a plane engine stops working
The engines stopping or stalling mid-cruise is one of the most common fears anxious flyers have. But what would happen if the engine just stopped?
The truth that every pilot, engineer, and aviation expert knows is that planes are designed to glide safely, even if all the engines stop.
In this post, we’ll look at what really happens if an aircraft loses power, why gliding is a regular and practised part of flight, and why you don’t need to panic if you ever hear the words “engine failure” (even though they’re so rare it’s highly unlikely to ever happen to you).
Planes don’t fall – they glide
A plane won’t fall from the sky if its engines stop.
Commercial aircraft are built like giant gliders. Even when the engines are producing no thrust, the shape of the wings (known as the airfoil) keeps generating lift as long as the plane has forward speed.
Instead of simply dropping from the sky, the aircraft would enter a controlled glide. It will continue to move forward and descend slowly.
To give you an idea of how effective that glide is:
- A typical commercial airliner, like a Boeing 747, can glide about 15–20 miles for every mile it drops.
- At 30,000 feet (roughly six miles up), that means a potential glide range of 90 to 120 miles. That’s plenty of time for pilots to restart engines, plan a landing, or reach an airport.
Aircraft engineers plan for every eventuality, including total engine failure. Planning doesn’t mean this is a likely scenario. In fact, it’s incredibly rare.
Why every aircraft is a glider
Every plane (from a small training aircraft to the largest commercial jet) flies because of lift and drag. The wings push air downward, generating an upward force that keeps the aircraft in the air. The engines provide thrust to overcome drag and keep the plane moving forward. (Learn more about the science of flight.)
When the engines stop, the thrust disappears, but lift doesn’t. The plane continues to move through the air, and the wings still generate lift. The only difference is that the plane gradually trades altitude for airspeed.
Pilots regularly practise engine-out gliding in flight simulators as part of their training. It’s a routine procedure they learn early on. It’s refined through years of safety drills.
What pilots do if engines stop
We’re not pilots, but we’ve read enough about aviation to understand what happens if the engines fail. If all engines fail (which is extremely rare), pilots follow a calm and well-practised procedure.
Here’s the process:
- Maintain control – The pilot ensures the plane is flying at its “best glide speed,” the speed that maximises distance and control.
- Assess the situation – Pilots check engine instruments, weather, and potential restart options.
- Attempt restart – Many engine failures are temporary (for instance, due to fuel imbalance or icing). Pilots follow specific restart checklists for each engine type.
- Communicate – The crew alerts air traffic control, who immediately assist with nearby airports or runways.
- Plan for landing – If restarts fail, pilots look for the best possible place to land safely. This might be an airport, a long runway, or, as a last resort, a flat area of land or water.
The physics of gliding: why it works
A small amount of physics helps explain why this works.
An aircraft’s lift-to-drag ratio (L/D) determines how far it can glide. A high L/D ratio means the plane travels farther forward for every unit of altitude lost.
For example, a Boeing 737 MAX has an L/D ratio of around 18:1, meaning it can travel 17 miles for every mile of altitude lost. A modern Airbus A330 is even more efficient, with ratios closer to 20:1.
Pilots understand these figures and could (if needed) use them to glide you to safety. They’re not alone, either. Inside the cockpit, you’ll find a range of tools, including glide range calculations and electronic aids that show reachable airports in real time (if required).
Famous examples of gliding to safety
The pilot and co-pilot are working to do what they can to restore power – and it works. They’re trained not to panic, but to work methodically and calmly to find a solution, like the pilot of British Airways Boeing 747 flight BA 009.
When encountering a full engine shutdown, the British Airways pilot uttered the famous words:
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are all doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress.”
You can read the full story of how the pilot managed to safely land the plane here.
This wasn’t the only example. In 1983, an Air Canada Boeing 767 ran out of fuel mid-flight. Both engines stopped at 41,000 feet. The pilots, who had glider-flying experience, calmly converted their jet into an enormous glider. They landed safely on an old airstrip in Gimli, Manitoba. (Everyone survived.)
The most famous glide ever is known as the Miracle on the Hudson. If you don’t know the story, a flock of geese disabled both engines shortly after takeoff from New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles glided their Airbus A320 to a textbook water landing on the Hudson River. Every passenger survived. (Everyone survived.)
The reality is that pilots are prepared, aircraft are designed to glide, and passengers can (and do) walk away unharmed.
How rare are engine failures, really?
The chances of a total engine failure in a modern jet are astonishingly low. That’s a testament to the quality of aircraft engineering and maintenance teams.
Modern turbofan engines are built with layers of redundancy and precision engineering. According to Boeing, the rate of in-flight engine shutdowns is fewer than one per million flight hours.
Even when one engine does fail, commercial aircraft are designed to fly perfectly safely on the remaining one. Twin-engine aircraft must meet something called ETOPS certification. This means the plane can continue to fly safely for hours on one engine in an emergency
Of course, engine failures can happen. And they do. But the chances of all the engines on your plane losing power are incredibly rare.
What passengers would notice in a full engine failure?
If the engines stopped, what would you, as a passenger, experience? The truth is, probably much less than you think.
You’d hear the engines spool down as they do when you start to descend. The noise level inside the cabin would drop significantly.
The plane might feel slightly quieter and smoother, but you wouldn’t feel the plane drop (which may be a bit of a surprise). The aircraft would keep flying and begin to naturally descend gradually, according to the plane’s L/D ratio.
The British Airways pilot chose to let passengers know what was happening, but the pilot’s first priority is to fly the plane and follow procedure. In most cases, you’d never even realise a temporary loss of thrust had happened.
Why pilots train for every possibility
Pilots undergo thousands of hours of simulator training before flying commercial routes. Every six months, they complete recurrent simulator sessions – practising everything from single-engine takeoffs to full engine failures at cruising altitude.
Simulators replicate real aircraft systems, sounds, and handling so precisely that pilots’ muscle memory kicks in automatically if the real thing ever happens.
That’s why, when engine issues occur (even if extremely rare), pilots remain calm. They’ve done it hundreds of times in training.
Battling the psychology of “what if”
The thought of engine failure can trigger deep anxiety in fearful flyers. It’s completely normal when you’re dealing with a loss of control and uncertainty.
Understanding how planes glide and how pilots respond can help ease that fear.
If this fear comes up, it can help to remember that planes are designed to glide for long distances, pilots train for this repeatedly, and modern engines rarely fail at all.
You can write these down on a piece of paper, a reflective journal, or type them into a notes app on your phone. Checking them can help you better manage anticipatory anxiety and in-flight fear.
You’ll find lots of resources in our Help Desk.
Planes don’t fall from the sky
If all the engines on a commercial aircraft stopped, the plane would not fall from the sky. It would glide, controllably and predictably. The time would enable pilots to potentially restart the engines or make a plan for landing.
The design, engineering, technology in every plane – and the training of every pilot – make engine outs incredibly rare. They’re also survivable.
The plane you’re in has been tested and built to fly, even without engine power. Sit back, relax and enjoy your flight.
Please share this article with anyone who might benefit from it.
FAQS
No, if the engines on your plane stop for any reason the pilots can safely guide the plane to the ground. Every plane is, as we’ve read about in the article a glider. If the engines stop for any reason, you plane can safely glide for 50 or more miles or more (depending on its size).
There are several things that could cause an engine failure. It could be a fuel issue, a mechanical problem, or something external factor (like a bird strike or icing). Engine failures are rare, but they do happen. Thankfully, planes can fly safely on a single engine if this happens. the chances of multiple engines stopping at the same time are very small.
Planes can glide for 50 miles or more if both engines fail. This is an incredibly rare and unlikely scenario, but it if happens, your pilots could glide the plane safely to a nearby airport.