Qantas passengers in Sydney got to see an unusual sight: a five-engine 747. (Image: Qantas)
Four-engine passenger aircraft are slowly disappearing from the aviation scene as fuel-efficient, long-haul twin-engine planes replace them. So it was especially unusual when a five-engine jet appeared on a Sydney runway recently.
The Qantas 747 had the usual two engines suspended from its right wing, but there were three hanging from its left wing.
What was going on? Qantas had another 747 stranded in Johannesburg in need of a spare engine. And the airline’s engineers calculated that the most efficient and cost-effective way to get it there was to hang it from the wing as a form of external cargo.
Here’s what it looked like from inside the passenger cabin (image: Qantas):
Besides adding an extra 22,000 pounds — not exactly well-balanced — the extra engine also increased drag on the aircraft. As a result, the 747 had to make a stop in Perth to refuel.
The extra engine — which was not connected to the aircraft’s power or fuel systems –went on a regularly scheduled Qantas flight from Sydney to Johannesburg (QF63). The defective engine it replaced will be sent back to Australia by boat, Qantas said.
The airline noted that this is not new — it has been ferrying spare engines like this since it operated Boeing 707s at the beginning of the jet era. The last time it did so was in 2011.
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Where did you read that there were people on the plane while they ferried the engine? I don’t see that anywhere in the article.
This must be pretty routine for all airlines and freight haulers. You don’t just bolt on an engine as cargo. The mounting brackets have to exist and only after design and testing by Boeing. Then it has to be approved by the FAA in the aircraft’s type certificate.
I wouldn’t be happy if I paid for a flight to go this distance and because of adding more weight had to make a refuel stop in Perth. Sorry very sad that a airline would do something like this at the expense of paying customers. One of the reasons I won’t fly Qantas.
I hope Ryanair and Frontier don’t hear about this. They might use this technique to get more passengers onto each flight.