I fly with fspassengers and today I was doing a flight when at cruise altitude I had a fuel imbalance on the left side. The center tank fuel pumps were already off (low fuel-expected) so I turned off the right tank pumps. the tanks on the right side continued to drain which showed to me a fuel leak but I still had enough fuel to make it to my destination airport. On my descent the right tanks drained completely but within 5 minutes both engines failed at the same time. I was wondering what procedure to use. I have no idea why they both shut down. Without knowing the procedure I was able to start up the APU and somehow able to, after a number of attempts, re-start the left engine only.Thanks,Chris Porter

I was wondering what procedure to use. I have no idea why they both shut down.

Pray.There's not much you can do besides keep it flying for as long as you can whilst trying to get to the closest airfield. Whilst you are doing that, you can have the first officer attempt to restart the engines (in this case, you have to do it yourself, since you don't have a first officer :(). To do that, you don't actually need the APU, since the airflow into the engines will make the blades spin anyway, so you use the 'FLT' mode on the start switch, although you can still turn the APU on to get your instruments back. The most important thing is to turn off the Autopilot and Autothrottle, if they haven't dissengaged themselves automatically.

This has actually happened a few times with the 737, notably when both engines flamed out on a Garuda Indonesia 737-300 in 1989 (it was water ingestion in the engines caused by the aircraft descending through a storm cloud at idle RPM which caused the double flame out). The crew could not relight the engines and so they belly landed the aircraft in a shallow river. To keep the speed on, they used no flaps at all in the belly landing.The procedure for an emergency landing in such circumstances is not unlike the procedure glider pilots use for every landing. The first thing to be well versed in, is the best glide speed - i.e. the speed at which you can glide the thing for maximum range. This will let you work out your possible options from the approximate radius that gives you for your available height. At high altitude, that will actually be quite a long way. In the famous 'Gimli Glider' incident (where a 767 ran out of fuel at 26,000 feet), it was flown at 220 knots, giving it a glide ratio of 12:1 (i.e it will go forward 12 feet for ever foot of altitude it loses). A 12:1 glide ratio is equivalent to being able to travel about 10 miles for the loss of about 5,000 feet, and most airliners will probably get similar figures (by comparison, the best competition sailplanes can have glide ratios of about 50:1).Once you know your radius of possible travel, you can look for a landing site (keep in mind that going downwind will expand your options and put you in good shape for a circuit too). If no airport is available, then a road or flat open terrain is what you want. Contrary to what most people might imagine, a hard surface is invariably a better choice than a soft one for a wheels up landing, since you are less likely to dig a wing in and cartwheel. Long crops may slow you down, but you will not know what the surface it like underneath them, so it can be risky. Golf courses are a good choice (I landed on one of those once in an SZD 50-3 in real life).If it's looking like you are going to have to use a field, you'll keep the gear up, and what you have to do is spot a big field, and plan a circuit so that you will land from one corner to the other (diagonally) as this will give you the biggest available space without hitting a fence. Look for clues as to the wind direction from cloud shadows or smoke from factories etc, and land into the wind. Flaps will cause too much drag for a power off glide in an airliner, so it is better not to use them and come in fast and flat, which will require good judgement, so that is why you fly a downwind and two turns, rather than going straight in. It helps to draw an imaginary runway on the field and keep the field at no less than 35 degrees down from any point on your circuit (more if you can manage it).Keep trying to relight the engines all the time you are planning all this stuff. In real life, the pilot would fly and the co-pilot would try and do the relight, but in FS, you'll have to do both jobs.Al

Thanks for the comments. I lost both engines at around 12000 feet with mountainous terrain around and a lot of desert. I was able to glide her for awhile at around 240. I had a few airport options but no runway longer than 3500 feet. I actually came in too high for the airport/runway I was diverting to and had no chance to get at a lower altitude without gaining much airspeed. Darn mountain would not let me fly downwind to lose more altitude and my choices were far too limited to get to another airport. While looking for a road or somewhat level ground I noticed my left engine had started back up (talk about relief).Putting the start switch to FLT mode, as was commented, instead of GRD like what I had done, was what I was talking about. What do I do with the bleed/pack/isovalve switches with the loss of 1 or both engines and I am trying to re-start them and or if they don't start and I am forced to glide for a landing? It was too bad I didn't have an actual first officer because who knows how long the left engine had been re-started before I realized it had done so. I should have been monitoring my equipment but after a few failed attempts I had lost hope of them restarting. A first officer would have been helpful. I use fs2crew but that in itself is limited in situations such as this.Thanks,Chris Porter

Here's the sort of thing that the real procedures would involve. This is not for a 737NG, since I'm not about to start putting current flight manual data procedures from existing airlines up on the internet for obvious reasons, not least of which is the fact that Boeing don't like it. But I reckon this will be alright since it is old and not actually a Boeing document, and it is for an aircraft that is pretty much being phased out. It ought to give you an idea of the kind of thing that goes on in such a circumstance. Note that there are procedures for volcanic ash ingestion on there, which is sort of relevant at the moment if you like to go for a lot of realism:Obligatory disclaimer: DO NOT use these for real world flying, even in your Cessna. They are the real thing, but I've just put them up here for the use of simmers, and using them as a guide for real flying would not be a good idea, since they are merely an excerpt from a much larger manual.Al

Thanks all, that will help.Chris Porter

Here's the sort of thing that the real procedures would involve. This is not for a 737NG,

While these are really interesting, wouldn't the 2 engine out procedure be materially different in a 2 engine plane like the 737 then in a 3 engine plane like a 727? :(

The procedure for ENG FAIL both engines in the 737-800 is.Start switches: FLTStart Levers: CUTOFFwith EGT decreasing Start Levers: IDLE DETENTIf EGT reaches 950C repeat above stepsAPU (if available) START and ON BUSdo not wait for successful engine start prior to starting apu, apu may be placed on either or both bussesIf neither restart is successful and N2 is below 11%Wing ANTI-ICE: OFFPACKS: OFFAPU BLEED: ONIGN SELECT SWITCH: BOTHEITHER ENG START SWITCH: GRDWhen engine parameters have stabilized:APU BLEED: OFFSTART SWITCH: FLTTHROTTLE: ADVANCEGEN: ONPACK: AUTOAccomplish the inflight Engine Start Procedure to start other engine.This procedure is for training purposes only and should not be used in real world flight. Hope this helps.Kevin W.

This procedure is for training purposes only and should not be used in real world flight.

:( ? ? :( Sorry Kevin, but I don't get it...so for training what ?

:( ? ? :( Sorry Kevin, but I don't get it...so for training what ?

I miss worded the phrase it's a real procedure from a 737-800 FCOM that I put up for sim use only and should not be tried in real life flight. But it won't let me edit it.Kevin W.

Thanks Kevin, I actually found an old laminated Alaska Airline 737-400/NG Normal Checklist and Quick Reference Checklist (emergency) that a flight crew had thrown out (I used to work out at the airport catering aircraft and found it in the top of the trash bin) that I found in one of my flight sim binders which shows the same. Wish I'd found it before the flight where I had lost both engines.Chris Porter

While these are really interesting, wouldn't the 2 engine out procedure be materially different in a 2 engine plane like the 737 then in a 3 engine plane like a 727? :(

Yes, indeed they would, but what is the same is the division of labour and the need to have one pilot checking systems and such whilst the other concentrates on flying, and you will notice the mention of the need for chat brevity and such, which is what I was pointing out as a follow on to my previous post about the matter.The point of that is, to realistically simulate such an occurrence in any FS jet airliner, you would certainly have to use the pause button to allow for the fact that you would have to be doing two jobs in a situation where they would ordinarily be happening simultaneously.Al

Hey Kevin, do you have a file download or PDF file of the 737-800 FCOM I could get a copy of?Thanks, Chris Porter

Hey Kevin, do you have a file download or PDF file of the 737-800 FCOM I could get a copy of?Thanks, Chris Porter

Sorry Chris, it's not a file it's an actual set of books that I have.Kevin W.

Sorry Chris, it's not a file it's an actual set of books that I have.Kevin W.

ah, thanks anyways. I was online earlier and saw some downloads for the 737-800 FCOM but you had to pay for registration at the site to get it so I thought maybe you had one from somewhere else. Take care,Chris Porter