Just a little question, why do Boeing 737s engines back then run out of power during bad weather. Two examples I can give are Taca 110 and Garuda Indonesia 421.
I know 737s today go through a lot of bad weather and they are still working fine, but back then, the planes go through bad weather and all of a sudden, their engines broke down and they have to either land on the water (flight 421) or a levee (flight 110).
I have a feeling it’s the fuel onboard, but I’m not really sure.
It may be due to something called autofeathering. (Not sure about this). But it’s where the engines are automatically shut off when the plane encounters negative G forces. I’m not positive that this is the answer or that this happens on 737s, but yeah. It may be.
There are so many 737 incidents involving engine flameouts. Just like @KiwisFlying I’d assume it was old engine technology to blame. Or possibly with new weather radar systems storms are more easily avoided?
Well, an engine can only intake so much water. Also, hail was a factor in both of the flights, so that’s likely a common culprit. It’s not just the 737; pretty much any aircraft with the CFM56 can potentially flame out.
Earlier engine designs were not as good as getting water and hail out of the engines. Water and hail were what brought down the two flights you mentioned. The increased reliability is a combination of better engine designs and weather radar so it is easier to avoid storms.