Sequence for starting 4 engines

1

I tried looking this up but in the IFC but no luck. Does anyone know the sequence of starting four engines? I know when starting 2 engines it’s #2 then #1.

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3 and 4 then 1 and 2

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Ok thank you :)

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And sorry one more what about three engines? 3,2,1?

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I believe that it would be 3, 2, 1. A good way to think about it is you (the captain) are sitting on the left side of the plane. You want to hear both engines to make sure they’re working well. If you start the left engine first, you won’t be able to hear the engines on the right. If you start the right engine first, you’ll be able to hear that and then the ones to your left.

IRL, you want to start the engine with the good hydraulic pump first, as you want the brakes available immediately. With turbine engines, you generally start with #1 engine (the left most engine) first and take them in numerical order. There are many different kinds of engines and case but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

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2 then 1 then 3

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2 Engines: 2, then 1
3 Engines: 2, then 1, then 3
4 Engines: 3, then 4, then 1, then 2

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should u wait till the previous engine has fully started, or just start 3 and 4 in quick succession? (same with 1 and 2)

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One at a time. ;)

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I believe every airline has a different start up procedure

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@BennyBoy_Alpha gave a good ‘general rule of thumb’ kind of answer, here’s a more detailed one.

Airbus A320 & A330 family:

ENG 1 followed by ENG 2.

Airbus A340 & A380:

ENG 1 & ENG 2 simultaneously (press on ENG 1 first and right after on ENG 2),
after stable, repeat for ENG 3 & ENG 4.

Boeing (two engines):

ENG 2 followed by ENG 1.

Boeing 747:
ENG 4 → ENG 3 → ENG 2 → ENG 1 (ENG 4’s hydraulic systems are related to breaking, so usually turned on first).

MD11 and DC10:
ENG 3 → ENG 1 → ENG 2.

Common misconception: “You can’t turn two engines on a twin-engined jet simultaneously”.

This is not true. For example, BA’s SOP indicates that B777’s engines are to be started simultaneously when possible. The limiting factor if you can do this is the APU pneumonic duct pressure.

Please note that these are the most common engine starting sequences. The different SOPs for different airlines may dictate different starting sequences than the ones above.

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Another method is to hit the auto start button as your pushing back :)

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