I would've just let the FA know just in-case even if it looked okay. If they failed to find that before the next flight the plane took and something tragic happened, i'd feel terrible.

I asked a flight attendant at the top of the boarding stairs (no jetway in DAY in '70s) if the captain knew there was a stream of Jet A coming from the port engine nacelle and then proceeded to my seat. She briefly entered the cockpit and I then saw the captain exit the plane and we had a 1 hour or so delay while it was attended to.

Last year I was on several USAir 737-xx flights (the ones with WiFi) and the plane made a very loud continuous noise while boarding and leaving the flight. I think it was a banging sound but I don't remember that clearly anymore. Anyway, I asked a FA about it and was told that it was normal and happens all the time. I've never heard that noise on a CO 737-xx.

Considering the flight # and date was posted I bet the captain/FO hears about this.

Good point, but I wonder if if this could even be spotted during the walk around.
Personally I would have snapped a picture of it on my phone and gone up and asked an FA to bring it to the guys up front. Let them make the decision.

I wonder the FA would've even bothered to take it seriously/report it to the captain both in the case of AQ243 and in the OP's case. FA's get kind of used to dealing with people who don't know anything about aircraft and would probably just shoot off the usual "it's normal" response without even a second thought.

It's like when I call the IT person at work and tell them exactly what the problem is to save them the hassle of diagnosing the issue but still start off with the classic "is it plugged in?" bit only to eventually reach the same conclusion several hours later.

Well we IT people deal with people who takes the instructions "place the mouse on the start button" and proceeds to place the mouse on the monitor. How can we deal with that?

And people that use

DonaldDaisyHueyLouieDeweyMickeyMinnieGoofyPhoenix

as a password because they need 8 characters and must have a capitol [SIC].

Ah, nah, it's not the wings falling off that will kill you. By the time they would fall of a plane, you'd already be well aware of your imminent death.

My dad does this...

What would happen if the left (port) engine fell off of a 737

1. The CG would shift to the right and plane would roll in that direction
2. The plane would enter a left hand turn as the right side would be producing more power.
3. The would I assume be an alarm of some type in the cockpit letting the pilots something had gone somewhat wrong.
4. The passengers would enter a level of distress.
5. I am guess the autopilot would attempt to correct for the roll and bank, which would be possible or disable and let the two people in the front fly the plane.

Well, if the engine really were to fall off the plane, it would happen early on in the flight, most likely at take-off, and the plane would not be controllable.

But that latch doesn't hold the engine, it secures that panel on the nacelle.

Nonetheless, even if the engine didn't fall off...if the panel came open during flight that would probably also be bad.

I think I would have calmly and privately reported this to the FA. I'm sure the captain would want to know as only they have the expertise to decide the question of whether it matters or not.

Actually every twin engine commercial airliner built today can keep flying with one engine failed during pretty much every phase of flight.

It's actually worse from a yaw control standpoint to simply have one engine shut off during takoeff (rather than actually fall of the aircraft) because the drag that the failed engine creates adds to the yawing moment that the functioning engine on the other side creates. That yaw has to be overcome by the rudder and tail to keep the aircraft flying. If the engine simply fell off that drag goes away. All of this assumes that there isn't some larger structural problem with the wing of course.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America...nes_Flight_191

It doesn't end well.