From today's New York Times

Pilots Could Do Little if Engine Fell Off
By MATTHEW L. WALD

The Airbus A-300 that crashed shortly after takeoff from Kennedy International Airport shed part of one of its two engines, raising the possibility that the jetliner suffered a catastrophic breakup of the engine or that the engine itself detached from the plane — an event so severe that pilots do not even train for it....

The plane can fly on one engine, but if an engine fell off or broke up, it could destroy the three hydraulic systems, which are required to fly. The plane's flight control surfaces, the moveable panels that the pilots use to make it bank, climb, dive and change direction, are run by the hydraulic systems, and the loss of an engine means the automatic loss of two hydraulic systems. Collateral damage could take out the third system, experts said, but they cautioned that it would take examination of the wreckage and the flight data recorder to know for certain....

Full story at http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/12/ny...CND-PLANE.html
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