Airplane Control After Engine Failure

Copyright 2005 AvioConsult
Airplane Control after Engine Failure

How to Prevent a Dead Engine from Turning into a Killing Engine

Imperfections and deficiencies in aviation regulations, certifica-
tion specifications, flight manuals, textbooks, etc., etc., lead to
incorrect understanding of air minimum control speed and of
takeoff safety speed which in turn leads to takeoff, go-around
and training accidents after engine failure on multi-engine air-
planes because of inappropriate crew response

June 2005

Harry Horlings

AvioConsult
Independent Aircraft Expert and Consultant
Committed to Improve Aviation Safety
ii Copyright 2005 AvioConsult


How to prevent a dead engine from turning into a killing engine

Imperfections and deficiencies in aviation regulations, certification specifications, flight manuals, textbooks, etc., etc., lead to
incorrect understanding of the air minimum control speed and the takeoff safety speed which in turn leads to takeoff, go-around
and training accidents after engine failure on multi-engine airplanes because of inappropriate crew response.

This paper is an initiative of and is written by Harry Horlings, AvioConsult. An oral presentation to accompany this paper is
available as well. Availability of both paper and presentation can be checked via the products page of website:
www.avioconsult.com.

The author is graduate Flight Test Engineer of the USAF Test Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, CA, USA, 1985 and is Lt Col
ret'd (2003), FTE from 1986 and Chief Flight Test of the Royal Netherlands Air Force from 1994 to 2000.
AvioConsult is an independent aircraft expertise and consultancy bureau founded by the author.
E-mail: info@avioconsult.com.

Copyright 2005, AvioConsult, all rights reserved.
The copyright of this paper belongs to and remains with AvioConsult unless specifically stated otherwise.
By accepting this paper, the recipient agrees that neither this paper nor the information disclosed herein nor any part thereof shall be
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writing by AvioConsult.

AvioConsult has written this paper in good faith, but no representation is made or guarantee given (either express or implied) as to the
completeness of the information it contains.
By accepting this paper, the recipient agrees that AvioConsult will not be liable for any direct or indirect loss arising from the use of
the information and materiel contained in this paper.

Paper date: 2005-06-24. Change: 2011-02-10 Paper Number: AC07
Copyright 2005 AvioConsult iii
CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................................................... IV
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS .................................................................................................................................. IV
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................................... V
1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................................... 1
2. AIRPLANE CONTROL AFTER ENGINE FAILURE................................................................................................................... 1
2.1. Recovery ............................................................................................................................................................................ 2
2.2. Straight flight after engine failure ...................................................................................................................................... 3
2.2.1. Straight flight with wings level ( = 0) ............................................................................................................. 3
2.2.2. Straight flight with zero sideslip ( = 0) ........................................................................................................... 4
2.2.3. Straight flight for certification ( = 3 5) ....................................................................................................... 4
2.2.4. Straight flight with zero rudder (
r
= 0).............................................................................................................. 4
3. VARIABLE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE V
MCA
...................................................................................................................... 5
3.1. Effect of bank angle and weight on V
MCA
.......................................................................................................................... 5
3.2. Two engines inoperative .................................................................................................................................................... 6
3.3. Critical engine .................................................................................................................................................................... 7
3.4. Engine thrust, altitude and temperature ............................................................................................................................. 8
3.5. Thrust derating and flexible thrust ..................................................................................................................................... 8
3.6. Control deflection .............................................................................................................................................................. 9
3.7. Slipstream effects ............................................................................................................................................................... 9
3.8. Propellers ........................................................................................................................................................................... 9
3.9. Effect of center of gravity on V
MCA
................................................................................................................................... 9
3.10. Rudder boosting ............................................................................................................................................................... 10
3.11. Landing gear, flaps, slats and spoilers ............................................................................................................................. 10
3.12. Ground effect ................................................................................................................................................................... 10
3.13. Stall speed ........................................................................................................................................................................ 10
3.14. Load factor ....................................................................................................................................................................... 11
3.15. Configuration changes ..................................................................................................................................................... 11
3.16. Climbing flight ................................................................................................................................................................ 11
4. FLIGHT-TESTING V
MCA
............................................................................................................................................................. 11
4.1. Static V
MCA
flight-testing ................................................................................................................................................. 12
4.2. Dynamic V
MCA
or transient effects flight-testing ............................................................................................................. 13
4.3. Other airborne engine-out evaluations ............................................................................................................................. 13
5. IMPROVED ENGINE EMERGENCY PROCEDURE ................................................................................................................ 13
6. TAKEOFF SAFETY SPEED V
2
................................................................................................................................................... 14
7. IMPERFECTIONS AND DEFICIENCIES IN AVIATION REGULATIONS ............................................................................ 16
8. IMPERFECTIONS ON V
MCA
IN MANUALS AND TEXTBOOKS ........................................................................................... 16
8.1. Flight manuals ................................................................................................................................................................. 16
8.2. Textbooks and training manuals ...................................................................................................................................... 16
8.3. Recommended text on V
MCA
in flight manuals, training manuals and in textbooks ........................................................ 17
9. TRAINING AND DEMONSTRATION OF V
MCA
....................................................................................................................... 18
9.1. Cautions for training and demo ........................................................................................................................................ 18
10. CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................................................................... 19
11. RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................................................................................................. 19
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 20
iv Copyright 2005 AvioConsult
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Motions after engine failure turboprop ............................................................................................................................ 2
Figure 2. Motions after engine failure turbofan ................................................................................................................................ 2
Figure 3. Straight flight with wings level ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Figure 4. Straight flight with zero sideslip ......................................................................................................................................... 4
Figure 5. Straight flight for certification ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Figure 6. Straight flight with zero rudder ........................................................................................................................................... 5
Figure 7. Banking more than 5 away from the inoperative engine .................................................................................................... 5
Figure 8. Banking into the inoperative engine..................................................................................................................................... 5
Figure 9. Effect of Bank Angle and Gross Weight on V
MCA
One Engine Inoperative ..................................................................... 6
Figure 10. Effect of Bank Angle and Gross Weight on V
MCA2
Two Engines Inoperative ................................................................. 7
Figure 11. Side view Nomad with Lift, Drag and Weight vectors ....................................................................................................... 7
Figure 12. Thrust distribution on propeller blades ................................................................................................................................ 7
Figure 13. P-factor ............................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Figure 14. Airbus A400M .................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Figure 15. Center of gravity shift, longitudinal and lateral ................................................................................................................... 9
Figure 16. Effect of Bank Angle on V
MCA.
Turbojet, One Engine Inoperative; rudder and aileron deflections and sideslip angle .... 12
MCA2.
Turbojet, Two Engines Inoperative .............................................................................. 12
MCA
and V
2
, One Engine Inoperative, 4-engine turbojet .......................................................... 14
Figure 19. Effect of weight and bank angle on takeoff safety speed V
2
. V
MCA
with bank angle 3 was used here ............................ 15
MCA2
and V
2
, Two Engines Inoperative, 4-engine turbojet ...................................................... 15

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS
Angle of attack
Sideslip angle
Air density
Bank angle
Pitch angle
a
Aileron deflection angle
r
Rudder deflection angle
AC Advisory Circular
ADI Attitude & Direction Indicator
AGL Above Ground Level
C
L
Lift coefficient due to angle of attack
CS Certification Specification (EASA)
D Drag
EASA European Aviation Safety Agency
FAA Federal Aviation Administration
FAR Federal Aviation Regulation
ft foot, or feet
FTG Flight Test Guide
ICR Inappropriate Crew Response
IFR Instrument Flight Rules
IMC Instrument Meteorological Conditions
JAR Joint Airworthiness Requirements
kg kilogram
kt knot or knots
L Lift
L Rolling moment
L Rolling moment due to sideslip angle
L
a
Rolling moment due to aileron deflection
a

lb Pound or pounds
L
T
Rolling moment due to (asymmetric) thrust T
N Yawing moment
N Newton
N Yawing moment due to sideslip angle
N
r
Yawing moment due to rudder deflection
r

N
T
Yawing moment due to (asymmetric) thrust T
OEI One Engine Inoperative
PFD Primary Flight Display
PSM Propulsion System Malfunction
RNLAF Royal Netherlands Air Force
S Surface area
SL Sea Level
T Thrust of propeller or turbofan/ jet
TEI Two Engines Inoperative
TPS Test Pilot School
USAF United States Air Force
V Velocity or speed
V
1
Decision speed
V
2
Takeoff Safety Speed
V
2MIN
Minimum Takeoff Safety Speed
V
MC
Minimum Control Speed
V
MCA
Minimum Control Speed in the Air
V
MCA1
Minimum Control Speed in the Air, OEI
V
MCA2
Minimum Control Speed in the Air, TEI
V
MCG
Minimum Control Speed on the Ground
V
MCL
Minimum Control Speed Landing configuration
V
MCL1
Minimum Control Speed Landing configuration, OEI
V
MCL2
Minimum Control Speed Landing configuration, TEI
V
R
Rotation speed
V
S
Stall speed
V
S0
Stall speed, landing configuration
V
S1
Stall speed, specified configuration
V
SR
Reference stall speed
V
SSE
Safe intentional OEI speed (FAR/ CS 23.149)
V
XSE
Speed for best single engine angle of climb
V
YSE
Speed for best single engine rate of climb
W Weight
Y Side force due to sideslip angle
Y
r
Side force due to rudder deflection
r

Copyright 2005 AvioConsult v
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The aviation community has achieved the lowest airplane ac-
cident rate in history, although accidents following the failure of
an engine or propeller system during takeoff, go-around and
accidents during training flights with an inoperative engine
continue to happen quite frequently. The conclusion in many
accident investigation reports is either 'out of control' or
'inappropriate crew response to propulsion system malfunction'.
Many publications were written to prevent these kinds of acci-
dents, but most reports and papers deal with the early recognition
of propulsion system problems only. This paper reveals the real
cause of many propulsion system malfunction related accidents
and presents many recommendations to improve aviation safety.
Propulsion systems (engines and/ or propellers) are not 100%
perfect and may occasionally fail during takeoff, go-around or
while en-route. This is why multi-engine airplanes are always
designed to be able to continue to fly safely when an engine fails
or is inoperative. The vertical tail is designed to be just big
enough to generate the side force required to maintain straight
flight down to a certain speed, but while maintaining a small
bank angle. During the experimental flight-test phase following
prototype production, experimental flight test crews determine,
besides other operational limitations, that speed, which is called
the air minimum control speed (V
MCA
), for one or more engine-
out configurations as well as a special type of V
MCA
for landing
(V
MCL
). The flight test techniques and procedures to be used are
published in flight test guides issued by the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) or the European Aviation Safety Agency
(EASA), and in Military Specifications and Standards published
by Air Forces. These flight test techniques require the use of
standardized test conditions, like an aft center of gravity, lowest
possible weight, critical engine inoperative and several others to
reduce the otherwise huge amount of data required to determine
V
MCA
for all values of all variable factors that have influence on
V
MCA
. These standardized test conditions provide the worst-
case, the highest V
MCA
for a certain configuration. This worst-
case V
MCA
is listed in flight manuals, as a single number or in
charts in which altitude, temperature and ground effect are often
the only variable factors. This also simplifies calculating V
MCA

by pilots before takeoff and again before landing (to be prepared
for a go-around). However, there is one test condition used
during flight-testing that has may be the greatest influence on
the value of V
MCA
, that is regrettably 'forgotten' in Federal Avia-
tion Regulations (FAR) and EASA Certification Specifications
(CS) and consequently in many airplane flight and operating
manuals as well as textbooks. This very influential variable on
V
MCA
is the bank angle. Its exclusion caused and will continue
to cause many accidents, not only immediately after engine
failure, but also during the remainder of the flight following the
engine failure or during training flights with an inoperative
engine, unless improvements are made to rules and regulations
and to flight manuals.
Part 25 airplanes use a takeoff safety speed (V
2
) to ensure a
safe continuation of takeoff following the failure of an engine.
V
2
is calculated before flight using both V
MCA
and the stall speed
(V
S
) of the airplane that applies for the takeoff weight.
Either V
2
or V
MCA
is always displayed in the direct field of
view of the pilots, either on a(n electronic) display, on a takeoff
and landing data card, on a placard or as a red radial line on the
airspeed indicator, because V
MCA
and/ or V
2
are of vital impor-
tance for maintaining control while an engine is inoperative
during takeoff, go-around and during low speed flight.
This paper, an initiative of Harry Horlings of AvioConsult, tho-
roughly explains V
MCA
and most of the variables that influence
V
MCA
and therewith V
2
and comments on existing regulations,
flight manuals, textbooks and training programs.
The major conclusions of this paper are:
Pilots are not made aware that manufacturers use a small bank
angle to design and dimension the vertical tail of their airplane
and to determine V
MCA
and, hence, that this bank angle is a
condition for the listed V
MCA
(and derived V
2
) to be valid.
Many regulatory paragraphs in FAR/ CS 23 & 25 on takeoff
safety and on V
MCA
do not take into account the adverse ef-
fects of many variable factors, including bank angle, on V
MCA

and therewith on the derived V
2
. This has led to imperfect,
deficient, dangerous and even impossible requirements.
Flight manual writers copy these imperfect and incorrect
regulatory paragraphs into their manuals; textbook authors
copy them into their textbooks. Readers will or might get an
inappropriate understanding of the controllability of an air-
plane in the event that an engine is inoperative.
The applicant for certification of a multi-engine airplane may
select a bank angle for determining V
MCA
; a bank angle 3 5
degrees away from the inoperative engine is commonly used.
Flight Manuals publish this V
MCA
and allow a maximum bank
angle of 5, in accordance with the definition in FAR and CS,
without specifying the approved direction of banking. How-
ever, the actual V
MCA
varies considerably with bank angle. If
an airline pilot does not maintain the same small bank angle
that was used to determine V
MCA
while an engine is inopera-
tive, then the actual V
MCA
is higher than the listed V
MCA
and
might easily increase above the indicated airspeed (or V
2
),
leading to an uncontrollable airplane at once. V
MCA
as well as
V
2
are only valid and safe if the same bank angle is applied
that was used to determine V
MCA
. Flight manuals do regretta-
bly not specify the selected bank angle as an essential re-
quirement for being able to maintain straight flight (maintain
control) following the failure of an engine and do not issue
warnings for this vital requirement because a rule or regula-
tion to do so does not exist for the applicant/ manufacturer.
The small bank angle is also used to determine climb perfor-
mance after engine failure: it might mean the difference be-
tween life and death.
Some departure procedures require bank angles up to 15 de-
grees for takeoff obstacle clearance or noise abatement proce-
dures, even after engine failure. If the airspeed is V
MCA
or V
2
,
this 15-degree bank angle might also lead to an immediate
loss of control, ending the flight in calamity.
Much design effort has been made to display many cues and
alerts of approaching dangerous airspeeds and attitudes, etc.
However, the perhaps most important cause of engine failure
related accidents never made it to be included in the design of
cockpit displays and alerting systems, may be except for a few
airplane types. There is no bank angle advisory for keeping
the actual V
MCA
after engine failure to a safe lowest possible
value, no warning of approaching the actual V
MCA
or of dece-
lerating below the actual takeoff safety speed V
2
in any air-
plane yet. The underestimated, yet life-threatening increase of
actual V
MCA
if the bank angle deviates from the bank angle
used during flight-testing V
MCA
, never made it to be included
appropriately in the design of display, warning and alert sys-
tems. In addition, a yaw rate indication to early detect a thrust
asymmetry is no longer present on modern displays; a slow
moving heading scale has to be used instead.
Many recommendations are presented in the paper to im-
prove regulatory paragraphs, flight manuals, textbooks, training
programs, etc. These improvements are definitely required to
decrease the number of multi-engine airplane accidents due to
engine failure.
Prevention of Airplane Accidents after Engine Failure
vi Copyright 2005 AvioConsult

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Copyright 2005 AvioConsult 1
1. INTRODUCTION
The vertical fin and rudder of a multi-engine airplane are de-
signed to counter the big asymmetrical yawing moment caused
by the remaining engine(s) after engine failure. The aerodynam-
ic side force that can be generated by the vertical fin and rudder
depends highly on the (square of the) airspeed. As the airspeed
decreases, the rudder deflection has to increase since the engine
thrust remains the same. However, there are mechanical limits
to the rudder deflection angle and the vertical fin is also limited
in size. So there must be a lower speed at which the vertical fin
plus rudder generate just a high enough side force to counter the
asymmetrical thrust and maintain the heading.
The designers of the vertical fin know that the size of the fin
and/ or rudder deflection can be reduced by banking a few de-
grees away from the inoperative engine. FAR 23.149, 25.149
and equivalent allow a bank angle of maximum 5 degrees. This
small bank angle adds a component of the airplane gross weight
as a side force to the other side forces that act on the airplane.
The weight and bank angle related side force reduces the size of
the vertical fin, which saves manufacturing cost. Therefore, the
vertical fin including rudder of a multi-engine airplanes is de-
signed and built to a size that generates just a high enough side
force for maintaining straight flight after engine failure, while
banking a few, up to maximum 5 degrees away from the in-
operative engine down to an airspeed that is lower than or equal
to 1.2 V
S
.
From the engineering or hardware point of view, there is noth-
ing wrong with this tail design approach, because it is in accor-
dance with the aviation regulations. During flight, the lowest
airspeed for maintaining straight flight that was used for design-
ing the vertical tail can deviate from the actual in-flight value.
Therefore, the regulations require flight-tests to be performed to
determine the airspeed below which straight flight cannot be
maintained after engine failure. During testing, the flight-test
crew would normally use the same bank angle that was used to
design the vertical tail. The measured lowest speed for maintain-
ing straight flight while banking the same bank angle as was
used to design the vertical tail is called the minimum control
speed in the air (V
MCA
) and is to be published in the Airplane
Flight Manual as an operational limitation.
The problem is that nobody ever told the airline pilots (yet)
about the tail design limitations, which are in fact hardware
limitations, and about the bank angle that needs to be applied for
V
MCA
to be valid. Hence, pilots do not know that they should
maintain straight flight only while also maintaining a small bank
angle away from the inoperative engine for the vertical fin to be
able to maintain the equilibrium of side forces and yawing mo-
ments, because this is neither prescribed in the Airplane Flight
Manual nor included in the engine emergency procedures. This
is, to the opinion of the author, why accidents after engine failure
happen. Pilots of Part 25 airplanes use takeoff safety speed V
2

and not V
MCA
anymore. However, V
2
is derived from V
MCA
and
stall speed V
S
, making V
MCA
important to all multi-engine pilots.
V
MCA
is in fact a software fix for a hardware shortcoming.
The significance of V
MCA
for the controllability of a multi-
engine airplane after engine failure seems well documented in
Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR), EASA Certification Speci-
fications (CS) and in flight manuals and textbooks, but in fact
it is not. If the applicable V
MCA
and/ or V
2
are readily availa-
ble to pilots before every takeoff or go-around, why do engine
failures, or in-flight simulation or demonstration of engine fail-
ures during training, still turn into catastrophes so often? Many
publications were written to answer this question, but most
reports and papers only discuss the early recognition of engine
problems, for instance references [1] and [2].
It is the objective of this paper to answer this question by tho-
roughly explaining the effect of an inoperative engine on the
controllability of a multi-engine airplane while in the air during
takeoff and go-around and to present a few different options for
continuing the flight safely, bringing down the engine failure
related airplane accident rate. The first version was published in
the Aviation Safety Magazine of the Royal Netherlands Air
Force in 1999 [3] and was written after four catastrophic acci-
dents happened with both propeller and turbofan airplanes after
engine failures within a short period of time. Since then, the
author reviewed several flight manuals, relevant texts in maga-
zines and on the Internet, accident reports and sections and
paragraphs out of FAR's and CS's on the subject of controllabili-
ty after engine failure. It was concluded that most of these pub-
lications were imperfect, in many cases even incorrect and defi-
cient.
For preparing this paper, USAF Test Pilot School (TPS) text-
books [4] were used, including the USAF Paper 'Procedures and
analysis techniques for determining V
MCA
' [5], as well as the
formal FAA and EASA Flight Test Guides [6], [7], [8]). To
avoid proprietary rights problems, no airplane data was copied
from formal airplane flight manuals; instead, data resulting from
analysis using the V
MCA
prediction techniques taught at the TPS
[9] were reworked and used. These are presented in paper 'The
Effect of Bank Angle and Weight on the Minimum Control
Speed V
MCA
of an Engine-out Airplane' [12].
The author believes that it is very important that multi-engine
rated pilots, aviation authorities, accident investigators and
textbook writers, etc., have a good knowledge of the real value
of V
MCA
and V
2
, as well as of the variables that have influence
on the value of V
MCA
. Most of these variable factors will be
discussed, as will be the effect thereof on takeoff safety speed
V
2
. A few 'secrets' of flight-testing V
MCA
as performed by expe-
rimental test pilots and flight-test engineers will be revealed.
Several imperfections and deficiencies in FAR/ CS 23 and 25, in
flight manuals, in training manuals and in textbooks will be
discussed and recommendations for improvement are included.
Although text and figures mainly present propeller airplanes,
the theory also applies to turbofan-equipped airplanes.
In this paper, minimum control speed means directional min-
imum control speed in the air. Lateral minimum control speed,
which is applicable to airplanes with powered lift devices or very
big propellers, will not be discussed, nor will ground minimum
control speed V
MCG
. This paper is not applicable to multi-engine
airplanes with two in-centerline engines either.

2. AIRPLANE CONTROL AFTER ENGINE FAILURE
For equilibrium flight, balance is required of the forces and
moments (a moment = a force its moment arm) that act on an
airplane. This also applies after engine failure. The lift or force
that an aerodynamic airfoil produces can be expressed with
equation V
2
SC
L
in which is the air density, V is the air-
speed and S is the surface area of the aerodynamic airfoil. C
L

does not only depend on the shape and other characteristics of
the aerodynamic airfoil, but also on its angle of attack to the
incoming air stream. Airspeed V has a significant (squared)
influence on the generated lift or force. The lift equation does
not only apply to 'horizontal' airfoils, but also to the vertical fin
and rudder. In the figures presented below, not all of the forces
and moments that act on an airplane are shown and the shown
ones are not to scale. The power or thrust (T) of engines de-
pends on the engine characteristics, and mostly also on air tem-
perature, pressure altitude and airspeed.
After engine failure, the power or thrust distribution on the
airplane is no longer symmetrical. The asymmetrical thrust (T)
generates a yawing moment (N
T
) that, if the airspeed is low and
the thrust is high, rapidly yaws the airplane through a large angle
in the direction of the failed or inoperative engine. The drag of
2 Copyright 2005 AvioConsult
the propeller of the failed engine, unless feathered, adds to the
asymmetrical thrust T.
A sideslip develops, which instantaneously increases the
drag (D) and hence decreases (climb) performance and airspeed.
The vertical tail generates side force Y due to sideslip that is
stabilizing because the moment N that this force generates,
tends to return the nose of the
airplane back into the relative
wind (weathercock stability).
The sideslip also generates a
destabilizing side force Tsin
(in front of the center of
gravity) generated by airflow
bending on all propeller discs
or turbofan inlets, as long as
the thrust setting is high.
On propeller airplanes, the
blown wing section(s) behind
the propeller(s) of the operating
engine(s) produce more propul-
sive lift than the other wing,
which generates a rolling mo-
ment (L
T
) into the failed or
inoperative engine.
Sideslip also generates a rolling
moment L caused by blanking
of a wing, in this case the left
wing, and by the relative wind
blowing under the high wing.
The asymmetrical slipstream of the propellers will also have
effect on the vertical fin as sideslip increases.

Turbofans mounted under-
neath the wings (Figure 2) do
not produce propulsive lift.
The wings of these types of
airplane however, generate a
bigger rolling moment L due
to the sideslip, the dihedral
effect, and the swept wings.
Without appropriate crew
response to propulsion system
malfunction, the rolling motion
will continue under influence of
the dihedral of the wings or, on
propeller airplanes, under influ-
ence of the asymmetrical pro-
pulsive lift. Ailerons might not
be effective enough to counte-
ract the rolling moment if the
airspeed is low, then spoilers
might kick in to assist. This
generates additional drag and
deteriorates the already reduced
performance.
The side forces will start ac-
celerating and consequently displacing the airplane to the dead
engine side along a descending flight path in the direction of the
low wing. Then the relative wind and sideslip angle reverse to
the other side and the weathercock stability will start to turn the
nose of the airplane to the ground. This of course is just one
possible scenario. Nevertheless, this actually took place during
several accidents. The crews could not put an end to this out of
control situation because the aerodynamic control power of the
control surfaces was not high enough due to a too low airspeed
and even more important because the crew was not familiar
enough with controllability of the airplane after engine failure.
The pitching moment change caused by engine failure is small
and the elevator is dimensioned to be able to handle the change
easily.
After an engine failure during takeoff or go-around, big
changes in forces and moments occur due to the high asymme-
trical engine thrust and the limited control power of the aerody-
namic control surfaces at low speed ( V
2
). The resulting dy-
namics and motions can be very violent. Motions will continue
until a new balance of forces and moments is established. If the
airspeed and altitude are both low, this might never happen while
the airplane is still in the air. Turbofans, after failure, take long-
er to spool down, so the dynamics of engine failure might not be
as violent as the dynamics after engine failure of turboprops. In
any engine failure case, the crew response to a propulsion system
malfunction must be rapid and appropriate.
2.1. Recovery
To recover to steady straight and controlled flight, first the
airplane motion must be arrested as soon as possible to prevent
an uncontrollable attitude from developing. The controls availa-
ble to the pilots for recovery are aerodynamic controls, like
rudder, ailerons and elevator, but also propulsive directional
controls: the throttles or power levers. A rudder is normally
sized and on big airplanes boosted to be able to provide
enough control power to counteract the yawing motions generat-
ed by asymmetrical engine thrust after one or two engines fail on
the same wing, down to a certain minimum control speed. Aile-
rons have small control power under low speed conditions too,
but are on some airplanes assisted by powerful spoilers. All
pilots are aware though that the downward deflection of an
aileron increases the local angle of attack of the wing section in
front of that aileron, which if the airspeed is low might lead
to a partial wing stall that causes an uncommanded roll, which
only aggravates an already critical situation. Aileron deflection
also generates adverse yaw and additional drag that both increase
the asymmetrical thrust moment N
T
as well.
The moments needed for recovery after engine failure are a
yawing moment N equal to and opposite of asymmetrical thrust
moment N
T
and also a rolling moment L.
The side force due to rudder deflection
Y
r
can provide a yawing moment N
r

that adds to the yawing moment N due
to side force Y (that normally provides
the weathercock stability). The rudder is the only aerodynamic
control available to balance or counteract N
T
. The ailerons
(supported by spoilers) are used to balance the propulsive lift
moment L
T
and the rolling moment due to sideslip L .
If the aerodynamic control power is insufficient to recover to a
safe equilibrium under high asymmetrical thrust conditions, then
the airspeed is below the actual minimum control speed. Nor-
mally the elevator (pitch control) is used to adjust the flight path
and therewith to increase the airspeed as required. However, if
the airplane is just after liftoff and still close to the ground this
might not be an option. If rudder and/ or ailerons are not effec-
tive enough to provide the control power needed for recovery,
then the only option left is to decrease the problem-causing
asymmetrical yawing moment N
T
and rolling moment L
T
. This
can be achieved by partly closing the throttle of the engine oppo-
site of the failed or inoperative engine to reduce the asymmetric-
al thrust moments N
T
and propulsive lift L
T
to a level that is
equal to or lower than the aerodynamic moments that are being
generated by rudder (N
r
), vertical fin (N ) and ailerons at that
very instant (and speed). The throttle of the opposite engine has
very big control power because it decreases or even nulls the
asymmetrical yawing moment on the airplane and decreases
propulsive lift L
T
. Of course, this 'propulsive control' aggravates
an already critical performance problem; the overall performance
is decreased for a while (until control is regained). Nevertheless,
T
Y
N
T Tsin
r
Y
r
N +N
r
T
Y
N
T Tsin
r
Y
r
N +N
r
Figure 1. Motions after engine
failure turboprop.
Wsin
T
Y
N
N
T
Tsin
Tsin
Y
L
T
Wsin
W
L
Prop.
drag
Wsin
T
Y
N
N
T
Tsin
Tsin
Y
L
T
Wsin
W
L
Prop.
drag
Figure 2. Motions after engine
failure turbofan.
T
Y
N
N
T Tsin
L
Wsin
Tsin
Y
W
Wsin
T
Y
N
N
T Tsin
L
Wsin
Tsin
Y
W
Wsin
Tsin
Y
W
Wsin
controllability is more vital to survival than performance, espe-
cially if the altitude is low during takeoff or go-around; a wingtip
hitting the ground first causes more trouble than a wings-level
landing in the dirt.
The required control inputs in the roll and yaw axes to stop the
dynamic or transient motions after engine failure and return to
stabilized flight will be bigger than for maintaining equilibrium
straight flight. Therefore, both a static and a dynamic V
MCA

(transient effects) are determined during experimental flight-
tests. These flight-tests will be briefly described later in this
paper ( 4).
Using the explanation presented above, an engine emergency
procedure for recovery can be drafted to establish straight flight
following the failure of an engine during takeoff or go-around.
This procedure is applicable to all multi-engine airplanes.
Identify which engine failed (e.g. dead leg dead engine);
Apply both rudder and aileron away from the inoperative
engine to recover to straight flight;
Increase thrust on remaining engine(s) to maximum availa-
ble (takeoff) thrust;
Note: If rudder and/ or ailerons do not generate enough con-
trol power for recovery, reduce the opposite throttle tempo-
rarily as much as required (propulsive control);
Increase airspeed using pitch control, if feasible, to the best
single engine rate of climb V
YSE
or to the best angle of
climb speed V
XSE
, or to takeoff safety speed V
2
, etc.
In 5, after thoroughly describing the effects of an inoperative
engine on the controllability of an airplane, this emergency
procedure will be improved with a life saving addition. In the
paragraphs to follow, several options for straight flight after
engine failure will be discussed.
2.2. Straight flight after engine failure
After recovery, many combinations of rudder and aileron def-
lections are possible that will achieve balance of lateral and
directional forces and moments for a safe straight (equilibrium)
flight. Three combinations or options that are most relevant to
takeoff and go-around will be discussed. A fourth option,
straight flight with no rudder input, is presented for reference
purposes only.
The options to be discussed are:
1. Straight flight with wings level (bank angle = 0), which
is easy to fly with outside reference or by using the attitude
display on the primary flight display;
2. Straight flight with zero sideslip ( = 0), because in this
case the drag is as low as possible and hence the effect of an
inoperative engine on airplane performance is minimal;
3. Straight flight for certification ( = 5, or the number of de-
grees specified by the applicant, away from the inoperative
engine), which is also the equilibrium of lateral and direc-
tional forces and moments used to determine V
MCA
during
experimental flight-testing;
4. Straight flight with zero rudder (
r
= 0).
2.2.1. Straight flight with wings level ( = 0)
In the accompanying figures below, not all forces and mo-
ments that act on an airplane are shown, only the most important
ones.
After failure of the left hand engine (#1) on our sample multi-
engine airplane, the asymmetrical thrust T of engine #2 gene-
rates a yawing moment N
T
about the center of gravity that can be
balanced only by a yawing moment N
r
generated by rudder side
force Y
r
( 2.1). However, Y
r
also causes sideward accelera-
tion and hence a sideslip built-up. This sideslip causes a side
force Y opposite of Y
r
, an 'air-bending' side force Tsin and a
side component of the drag, that
all decrease the sideward acce-
leration. The yawing moment
N ,

generated by Y ,

adds to the
asymmetrical thrust moment
N
T
. Therefore, the rudder
deflection needs to be increased
to counteract this moment as
well. Aileron deflection
a
not
only generates a rolling mo-
ment L
a
to counteract the
propulsive lift moment L
T
, but
also an adverse yawing moment
N
a
for which also additional
rudder deflection is required to
compensate for. On turbofan-
equipped airplanes, the deflec-
tion of ailerons might be differ-
ent from the deflection in the
figures, because turbofans do
not generate propulsive lift.
With the wings kept level,
the only side force available to achieve a balance of forces is the
side force due to sideslip Y .
As airspeed is decreased, Y decreases (control power of the
vertical fin with rudder deflected V
2
) and more rudder deflec-
tion is needed to increase Y again and achieve a balance of side
forces and yawing moments for straight flight with wings level.
The airspeed can be decreased until either one or more of the
following limitations are met, both with the trims at normal
setting:
Rudder deflection is maximum or pedal force is 150 lb (667
N) or 180 lb (FAR/ CS and military requirements, respec-
tively);
Aileron force is 25 lb and deflection is maximum or 75%
throw (FAR/ CS and military requirement, respectively).
Below this airspeed, straight flight cannot be maintained. There-
fore, this airspeed is the actual air minimum control speed
V
MCA
for flight with the wings level. 'Actual V
MCA
' in this
paper means the real and instantaneous V
MCA
in the actual confi-
guration with the actual values of all variable factors that influ-
ence V
MCA
and not the worst case of the values used to deter-
mine the V
MCA
that is published in flight manuals. These varia-
ble factors and their worst case values will be discussed in detail
in 3.
Conclusion. Straight equilibrium flight following engine
failure while the wings are kept level requires a sideslip angle
and deflection of both rudder and aileron to balance forces and
moments.
The disadvantage of this lateral and directional balance of
forces and moments is the drag generated by the sideslip, which
decreases climb performance. Furthermore, due to the sideslip
angle , the prop wash of the inner engines of a 4 or more engine
airplane (#2 or #3) might disturb the airflow around the vertical
fin, affecting the local angle of attack and hence influencing the
maximum obtainable rudder control power. The stall characte-
ristics are degraded as well.
Although a good and easy to fly straight flight with the wings
level can be achieved, a sideslip is required. The drag is not as
low as possible to achieve maximum takeoff performance. As
an example, the sideslip angle required for straight flight during
testing a small twin-engine airplane in a certain configuration
with an inoperative engine and level wings was 14 degrees.
Figure 3. Straight flight with
wings level.
T
Y
Y
Y
r
L
T
r
a
L
a
N
T
W
Tsin
N
r
-N
N
a
Tsin
T
Y
Y
Y
r
L
T
r
a
L
a
N
T
W
Tsin
N
r
-N
N
a
Tsin
2.2.2. Straight flight with zero sideslip ( = 0)
If sideslip is zero, there will be no side force due to sideslip
(Y ). As explained in the previous paragraph, besides rudder
and aileron deflection to balance the asymmetrical thrust mo-
ments N
T
and L
T
, another side force is definitely required for
straight flight to balance side force Y
r
and prevent the airplane
from slipping again to the dead engine side. This force can
easily be generated. The tail design engineer already used it at
the drawing board for sizing the vertical tail
When an airplane is banking,
a component of the weight
vector acts as side force in the
center of gravity ( 2). This
side force Wsin can also be
used to replace Y and achieve
straight flight after engine
failure. It generates no rolling
or yawing moments because
this force acts in the center of
gravity (the moment arm is
zero). Side force Wsin varies
obviously with weight (W) and
bank angle ( ), acts in the
direction of banking and is zero
if the wings are level
(sin 0 = 0).
In Figure 4, bank angle is a
few degrees away from the
inoperative engine, which
generates a side force Wsin
opposite of Y
r
, as is required for the balance of the side forces.
In this zero sideslip case, the rudder side force Y
r
only has to
generate a moment for balancing N
T
and N
a
(adverse yaw) and
does not have to overcome Y and the other side forces due to
as well, so less rudder deflection
r
is required as compared to
straight flight with wings level of the previous paragraph.
Therefore, the airspeed can be further decreased until again the
rudder and/ or aileron limitations are reached that were listed in
the previous paragraph.
The speed at which this happens is the actual air minimum
control speed V
MCA
for straight flight with zero sideslip in the
given configuration. Flight-testing has shown that a favorable
bank angle of only 3 5 degrees away from the inoperative
engine generates a side force Wsin that is big enough to re-
place Y and the other side forces due to . Wsin generates
no side effects since it acts in the center of gravity. The ball of
the slip indicator is in this case about half a ball width to the
right (into the good engine).
An example: the actual V
MCA
of a small twin-engine airplane
in a certain configuration during testing decreased from 58 kt
with the wings level to approximately 53 kt with a favorable
bank angle of 5. This small bank angle adds 5 kt or 10% of
'safety'. As will be shown later, the decrease of actual V
MCA
will
be much higher on bigger airplanes.
Conclusion. Actual V
MCA
during straight equilibrium
flight with zero sideslip is lower than actual V
MCA
with wings
level, leading to the conclusion that the margin between the
actual takeoff airspeed and the actual air minimum control speed
during takeoff increases if a small bank angle is used, which
means that this small bank angle increases the safety considera-
bly. For takeoff and go-around after engine failure, it is impor-
tant that the remaining performance after engine failure is max-
imal, requiring the drag to be minimal, which will be the case if
the sideslip is zero and a small bank angle of 3 to 5 is attained
and maintained.
2.2.3. Straight flight for certification ( = 3 5)
A small bank angle away from the inoperative engine decreas-
es the rudder requirement and therewith decreases the air mini-
mum control speed V
MCA
as was explained in the previous para-
graphs. In other words, applying a small bank angle decreases
actual V
MCA
and therewith increases the small margin between
V
MCA
and the airspeed during takeoff, which increases takeoff
safety. The small bank angle decreases sideslip to almost zero,
which is favorable to the remaining climb performance.
Zero sideslip is very difficult to determine in-flight because
sideslip angle cannot easily
be measured and displayed. A
simple means would be a woo-
len tuft on the windscreen, but
that does not look very profes-
sionally... A bank angle how-
ever, can be read directly and
fairly accurately from the atti-
tude display (ADI or FD).
The maximum allowable
bank angle is 5 (FAR/ CS
23.149 and 25.149 [8], [10]).
The reason for this 5 will
become clear in 3.1. The
applicant (manufacturer) may
select a bank angle that will be
used to determine the V
MCA
of
the airplane. In most cases, this
bank angle will be between 3
and 5. A bank angle of 5 is
most often used on multi-
engine airplanes with straight
wings and is very close to the bank angle for straight flight with
zero sideslip as well as for lowest drag, which again is im-
portant for (remaining) climb performance ( 2.2.2). Using 5 of
bank on straight wing airplanes will result in only a small sides-
lip angle of approximately 3. Swept wing airplanes might
only have to use 3 of bank for lowest drag; Figure 16 illustrates
this. As will be shown later, even this small 3 bank angle might
prevent a catastrophic accident after engine failure.
Figure 5 shows the most important forces and moments for
this lateral and directional balance of forces and moments. This
case is usually used for determining the V
MCA
that is listed in
flight manuals.
Conclusion. Straight equilibrium flight with a small bank
angle (3 5) away from the inoperative engine is relatively
easy to fly using the cockpit displays and provides a lower and
therewith more safe actual V
MCA
. The drag will be minimal
which is favorable to the remaining climb performance with an
inoperative engine. Therefore, this lateral and directional equili-
brium is used during flight-testing to determine the V
MCA
that
will be listed in flight manuals.
2.2.4. Straight flight with zero rudder ( r = 0)
To complete the overview of four of many possible options
for lateral and directional balance of forces and moments for
straight flight while an engine is inoperative, Figure 6 shows
straight flight with zero rudder. Y is now the only side force
that can provide the moment N required to act against N
T
.
Therefore, the sideslip angle needs to be quite considerable at
low airspeed or the airspeed needs to be high enough to generate
an appropriate side force Y . Side force Wsin is in turn re-
quired to balance Y + Tsin . The bank angle is again away
from the inoperative engine and will usually be around 8 degrees
at high weight and bigger at lower weights. This option for
straight flight might look attractive because no rudder input is
required. However, the sideslip angle at low takeoff or go-
zero sideslip.
N
r
L
T
W
a
L
a
T
N
T
Wsin
Y
r r
N
a
Wsin
N
r
L
T
W
a
L
a
T
N
T
Wsin
Y
r r
N
a
Wsin
Figure 5. Straight flight for
certification.
Wsin
r
Y
L
T
W
a
L
a
Y
N
T
T
Y
r
N
r
+ N
N
a
Wsin
Wsin
r
Y
L
T
W
a
L
a
Y
N
T
T
Y
r
N
r
+ N
N
a
Wsin
around speed can be quite
considerable (more than 20)
leading to high drag (which
should be avoided during ta-
keoff) and to a high local angle
of attack on the vertical fin
which might lead to fin stall
and consequently the loss of
directional control. The actual
V
MCA
with zero rudder is higher
than when rudder is deflected
to balance forces.
Conclusion. The drag during
straight equilibrium flight
with zero rudder is much high-
er than in the cases with wings
level and with a small bank
angle away from the failed
engine. This option for straight
flight is therefore definitely not
recommended during flight
following an engine failure and
with an inoperative engine.

3. VARIABLE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE VMCA
Many variable factors have influence on the value of V
MCA
.
Besides the already discussed influence of bank angle on V
MCA

(through side force Wsin ), any factor that influences the thrust
or drag symmetry in the yaw and/ or roll axes and that requires a
change of rudder or aileron deflection to compensate for, will
have an effect on the value of V
MCA
. In the paragraphs below,
most of these variable factors will be discussed. The value that
a factor should have during flight-testing to determine V
MCA
will
also be presented. Since V
MCA
is used as one of the factors to
calculate V
2
, this paragraph is applicable to all multi-engine
airplanes, including Part 25 airplanes.
3.1. Effect of bank angle and weight on VMCA
As was already explained in 2.2.2 above, a small bank angle
away from the inoperative engine decreases the actual air mini-
mum control speed V
MCA
. Below, the effect of a change of bank
angle and weight on V
MCA
will be discussed in greater detail.
A bank angle of more than
5 away from the inoperative
engine (see Figure 7) increases
side force Wsin , which (in
this example) causes a sideslip
to the right. Consequently, side
force Y develops to the left,
reducing the rudder requirement
(Y
r
) for straight flight. Since
the rudder is not fully deflected
anymore, the airspeed can be
further decreased until again the
rudder deflection or pedal force
is the maximum allowed (see
2.2.1). Hence, the result of
maintaining a bank angle more
than 5 away from the inopera-
tive engine is that actual V
MCA

would decrease. However,
because the sideslip angle in-
creases, the angle of attack of
the vertical fin is increased,
which might cause flow separation off the vertical fin and even-
tually cause the vertical fin to stall. Although V
MCA
might be
lower if bank angle is more than 5 away from the inoperative
engine (which in itself is safer), straight flight using a bank angle
in excess of 5 away from the inoperative engine is not recom-
mended because of the risk of fin stall; in addition, performance
decreases as well. These are the real reasons that this 5 limita-
tion exists in FAR, CS and Military Specifications.
A bank angle less than 5 away from the inoperative engine
or into the inoperative engine (as will be the case during a turn as
shown in Figure 8) decreases or reverses the direction of side
force Wsin . This will cause a sideslip to the left and side
force Y to develop to the right, increasing the total yawing
moment N into the inoperative engine. To counteract this in-
creased yawing moment, N
r
needs to be increased by increasing
the rudder deflection
r
. However, if the airspeed is as low as
V
MCA
, and hence the rudder is already (almost) fully deflected,
the required increase of N
r
with
Y
r
is not possible unless the
airspeed is increased, since the
control power of aerodynamic
surfaces is a square function of
the airspeed ( V
2
,

see

2).
This required increase of air-
speed for straight flight with
this bank angle change leads to
a higher actual V
MCA
.
In other words, if the airspeed
is as low as published V
MCA
(at
which speed a straight flight
equilibrium can be maintained),
a wings level attitude or a bank-
ing maneuver in the direction of
the inoperative engine causes
the airplane to start slipping to
that side. Sideslip angle and
drag both increase; performance
and altitude both decrease. If
rudder and/ or aileron deflection
were maximum before banking
(as was required for straight flight if the airspeed is V
MCA
), it
might not be possible to reverse the bank angle unless the air-
speed is increased first to a value well above V
MCA
or the thrust
asymmetry is temporarily reduced ( 2.2.1). If the altitude is
low, the required increase of airspeed might not be possible at
all; the airplane is already out of control and disaster is immi-
nent. Therefore, if rudder and/or aileron deflections are (near)
maximum, do not bank away from the favorable 3 to 5.
Figure 9 below shows the effect of bank angle and gross
weight on V
MCA
(through side force Wsin ) for a sample 4-
engine swept wing airplane with one outboard engine (#1) in-
operative during straight, constant heading, 1 g flight and with
the remaining engines producing maximum available takeoff
thrust. The data basis is the result of analysis of the stability
derivatives of this sample airplane while the thrust is asymme-
trical [12]. Actual airplane data could not be used, because
manufacturers are very hesitant in allowing the use of their
proprietary airplane data. A positive bank angle is in this case a
bank angle away from the inoperative engine #1.
On this sample airplane, the V
MCA
determined by analysis
(prediction, [12]) is below stall speed if a bank angle of 5 would
be used. The airplane flight manual will then state that the air-
plane is controllable down to the stall. Flight-testing this air-
plane will have to confirm that V
MCA
is indeed lower than V
S
.
If the manufacturer had opted for a bank angle of 3 away
from the inoperative engine for determining V
MCA
(3 line in
Figure 9), then the V
MCA
of the airplane for this configuration
would be 95 knots calibrated airspeed and the actual V
MCA

would decrease with increasing weight, which is favorable for
maintaining control after engine failure. This decrease is also
zero rudder.
T
Y
N
N
T
Tsin
Tsin
Y
L
T
a
W
Wsin
N
a
Wsin
T
Y
N
N
T
Tsin
Tsin
Y
L
T
a
W
Wsin
N
a
Wsin
Figure 7. Banking more than
5 away from the inop. engine.
Y
L
T
W
a
L
a
Y
Tsin
Tsin
N
T
T
Wsin
r
Y
r
N
r
+N
N
a
Wsin
Y
L
T
W
a
L
a
Y
Tsin
Tsin
N
T
T
Wsin
r
Y
r
N
r
+N
N
a
Wsin
Figure 8. Banking into the
inoperative engine.
Y
r
Y
Wsin
Tsin
T
L
T
Wsin
L
a
W
r
Y
N
T
N
r
-N
N
a
a
Y
r
Y
Wsin
Tsin
T
L
T
Wsin
L
a
W
r
Y
N
T
N
r
-N
N
a
a
very common for straight wing turboprop airplanes with 5 bank.
If however highest gross weight would have been chosen to
determine V
MCA
, then the actual V
MCA
for any lower weight is
higher and pilots would have to use weight as entry variable to
determine the actual V
MCA
; this would require too much data and
be too complex. Low weight is the worst-case weight for deter-
mining V
MCA
and is therefore used during flight-testing and thus
for listing V
MCA
in airplane flight manuals.
Things change dramatically for this and other multi-engine
airplanes if a bank angle is not maintained away from the in-
operative engine. If the wings are kept level, the analysis shows
that actual V
MCA
for this sample airplane, in this configuration, at
all gross weights (Wsin = 0) will have become 119 kt, 24 kt
higher than V
MCA
with 3 bank away from the inoperative engine
and 11 kt higher than the stall speed V
S
at high weight. At or
below an airspeed of 119 kt, straight flight cannot be maintained
following the failure of an outboard engine while the wings are
kept level and the opposite engine is at maximum available
takeoff thrust setting, and also provided the other factors that
have influence on V
MCA
are at their worst-case values.
Actual V
MCA
will be even higher if the bank angle is only 5
degrees into the wrong side, which is into the failed or inopera-
tive engine: more than approximately 85 kt above V
S
for this
sample airplane. The 10 line is presented too and speaks for
itself. The increase of actual V
MCA
on straight wing airplanes
will be smaller, but still a factor to consider.
The powerful adverse effect of side force Wsin (if is to
the wrong side) can be observed in Figure 9. Of course, V
MCA
is
the minimum speed for maintaining straight flight (equilibrium)
only, which an intentional turn is not, but the control power of
rudder and ailerons might be insufficient to be able to end the
turn and return to a wings level attitude once the airplane is
allowed to bank away from the favorable 3 5 degrees. The
remaining control power at V
MCA
is not subject of flight-testing,
and may therefore not be counted on.
Figure 9 will be used again in 6, while discussing the takeoff
safety speed V
2
. The same data will be used for a V
MCA
versus
bank angle plot in 4.
The V
MCA
that is listed in flight manuals is always determined
using the lowest possible gross weight and a bank angle of 3 to
5 away from the inoperative engine, which provides a safe
V
MCA
whatever the airplane gross weight is. This in fact means
that this listed V
MCA
is only safe on the condition that the bank
angle is 3 to 5 away from the inoperative engine.
Although the flight manual of this sample airplane might state
that the airplane is controllable down to the stall, this will only
be the case as long as the bank angle is the same as used to
determine V
MCA
: between 3 and 5 away from the inoperative
engine as opted by the manufacturer. Maintaining this small
bank angle is therefore essential for the takeoff and in-flight
safety after engine failure or while an engine is inoperative for
this airplane and most probably for all multi-engine airplanes.
Conclusions.
V
MCA
published in flight manuals is a constant value, but
actual V
MCA
varies considerably with bank angle; actual
V
MCA
is definitely not a constant airspeed.
Actual V
MCA
increases many knots (at high power settings)
if the wings are kept level, instead of banking 3 5 away
from the inoperative engine. The increase will be smaller
on straight wing airplanes (approximately 10 knots).
Actual V
MCA
increases even more while maneuvering into
the inoperative engine side. If actual V
MCA
increases above
the indicated (or calibrated) airspeed due to a change of
bank angle, control will be lost right away.
The V
MCA
that is published in Flight Manuals is a minimum
speed for maintaining a straight flight equilibrium following
the failure of an engine, and is definitely not a minimum
speed for maneuvering the airplane.
These facts about the effect of bank angle and weight on V
MCA

are not elaborated in most flight, training and operating manuals,
nor in many textbooks on asymmetrical flight, nor in FAR's and
CS's. This might very well be the real cause of many engine
failure related accidents. More on this subject will follow.
3.2. Two engines inoperative
On 4 or more engine airplanes, two engines might occasional-
ly be inoperative simultaneously, for instance after simultaneous
bird ingestion or following the failure of another engine. There-
fore, for 4 or more engine airplanes, both V
MCA1
and V
MCA2

(V
MCA
with one engine (n-1) and two engines (n-2) on the same
wing inoperative respectively) are determined and presented in
the flight manuals of these airplanes. FAR/ CS 25 do not use
V
MCA1
and V
MCA2
, but use V
MCL1
and V
MCL2
(V
MCA
for landing
configuration) only. FAR/ CS do obviously not anticipate a dual
engine failure in the takeoff or cruise configuration. The
FAR/ CS requirements for V
MCL
do not make any difference for
the explanation in this paragraph.
V
MCA1
is the V
MCA
, that is the minimum approved flying
speed, in anticipation of the failure of any one engine of a 4 or
more engine airplane. After any one of the engines failed or is
inoperative, V
MCA2
will have become the minimum airspeed for
maintaining airplane control in anticipation of the failure of a
second engine. V
MCA2
is much higher than V
MCA1
because it is
determined after shutting down the critical engine as well as the
engine next to it on the same wing. On a 4- or more engine
airplane, the asymmetrical thrust moment will then be as high as
it can get. V
MCA2
is also to be used as the minimum control
speed after failure of any two engines and not only for two in-
operative engines on the same wing! The value of V
MCA2
, again,
represents a worst-case airplane configuration.
In Figure 10 below, the effect of bank angle and weight is pre-
sented for the same 4-engine turbojet airplane as used in Figure 9
on page 5 for the one-engine inoperative case. As shown in the
figure, V
MCA2
from this analysis is expected to be 117 kt. This
V
MCA2
is determined with the lowest possible weight (160,000 lb
in this example) and with a 5 bank angle away from the inoper-
ative engine, as well as other standardized test conditions. If the
gross weight is above 225,000 lb, V
MCA2
is below the stall speed;
then the airplane is controllable down to the stall, but only if
bank angle is 5 away from the failed engines. A bank angle
of 3, less than 3 or to the other side increases actual V
MCA

above the stall speed V
S
for these weights. In paragraph 6 on
takeoff safety speed V
2
, Figure 10 will again be used for analyz-
ing takeoff safety.
Figure 9. Effect of Bank Angle and Gross Weight on VMCA
One Engine Inoperative, Maximum Continuous Takeoff Thrust.
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
160 180 200 220 240 260
Weight (1,000 lb)
A
c
t
u
a
l

V
M
C
A

(
k
t
)
-10
-5
0
3
Vs
4-engine turbojet, OEI
Data basis: analysis
X
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
160 180 200 220 240 260
Weight (1,000 lb)
A
c
t
u
a
l

V
M
C
A

(
k
t
)
-10
-5
0
3
Vs
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
160 180 200 220 240 260
Weight (1,000 lb)
A
c
t
u
a
l

V
M
C
A

(
k
t
)
-10
-5
0
3
Vs
XX
VMCA Flight Manual for = 3
The V
MCA2
used in this example is obtained from analysis that
is normally performed before flight-testing V
MCA2
to predict
V
MCA2
as well as any control limitation that might be encoun-
tered during testing [12]. Actual flight-testing is always required
to determine the real V
MCA2
that is to be published in flight
manuals.
As can be observed in Figure 10, banking away from the fa-
vorable 5 bank angle during straight flight into the other side
will increase actual V
MCA2
in the analyzed configuration to 190
knots at low gross weight and to 213 knots at high gross weight,
which is 73 kt respectively 96 kt above the standardized V
MCA2

that is listed in the flight manual. Compare this chart also to the
chart in Figure 9 in 3.1 for one engine inoperative.
These graphs show that there definitely is a reason for maintain-
ing a small bank angle away from the inoperative engine.
Procedures for go-around if one engine is already inoperative
require the airspeed to be increased first to at least V
MCA2
by
accelerating down the glide slope to exchange available altitude
for airspeed and by using symmetrical thrust only. Asymmetric-
al thrust may be added, provided directional control can be
maintained. Any increase of asymmetrical thrust increases the
requirement for rudder deflection, which increases actual V
MCA
,
and should be accompanied by gradual banking to a bank angle
of 5 away from the inoperative engine.
3.3. Critical engine
During low speed flight (including takeoff and go-around), the
angle of attack is increased for the wings to develop the re-
quired lift, as shown in Figure 11. The relative wind not only
hits the lift-producing wings
with the increased , but also
the propeller blades. This in-
crease affects the resulting
thrust of each individual blade
as is illustrated in side views in
Figure 12. V
r
is the rotational
speed of the propellers; V is the
forward airspeed of the airplane.
The resulting blade velocity is
shown with a dotted vector. The
top half of Figure 12 shows the down-going or descending pro-
peller blade and the right-hand side shows the angles of attack of
two propeller blades (both at the instant they are horizontal) and
the resulting thrust T after the of the wings has been increased.
The
b
(b = blade) of the descending propeller blade in Figure
11 increases if is increased as can be observed from this fig-
ure, so the thrust T of this blade increases;
b
of the ascending
propeller blade decreases, so the
thrust T of the blade on this side
of the spinner decreases.
At low speed, when is in-
creased, the thrust vector of
whole propeller disc shifts in the
direction of the descending
propeller blade. This asymme-
trical loading of the propeller
disc is also called P-factor, see
Figure 13. If the propellers both
rotate clockwise, then the mo-
ment arm of the propeller thrust
on the left wing (T
1
) decreases
and the moment arm of the
propeller thrust on the right
wing (T
2
) increases with in-
creasing . Then the yawing
moment of engine #2
(T
2
arm T
2
) is bigger than the
yawing moment of engine #1
(T
1
arm T
1
). This effect is
also noticeable during normal
allenginesoperating opera-
tions at low speed (when is
high), when a rudder input will
also be required to counteract
the difference in thrust yawing moments for maintaining the
heading.
If engine #1 fails, the total remaining thrust moment N
T
(in
this case generated by engine #2) is bigger than the remaining
thrust moment if engine #2 would fail. A bigger asymmetrical
thrust moment N
T
requires greater rudder deflection to counte-
ract this N
T
or if the rudder is at its limit as required for deter-
mining V
MCA
a higher speed. Hence, V
MCA
after failure of
engine #1 will be higher than V
MCA
after failure of engine #2.
The engine that, after failure, leads to the highest V
MCA
is called
the critical engine. In this case, the (most) left engine #1 is the
critical engine because both propellers rotate clockwise.
If the airplane is equipped with counter-rotating propellers or
with turbofans, there is no difference between N
T
after failure of
a left- or right-hand engine provided the gyroscopic effects of
rotating engines and propellers are negligible. In this case, the
opposite engines are equally critical. N
T
and hence actual V
MCA

differ for inboard and outboard inoperative engines though.
The failure of the centerline engine on a tri-jet has no influence
on the yawing moments and hence not on V
MCA
, but only on the
pitching moment requiring a change of elevator input.
Slipstream effects or rudder boosting might influence the se-
lection or determination of the critical engine; refer to the appli-
cable paragraphs below.
A new airplane design shown in Figure 14 is the Airbus
A400M. Unique on the propulsion of this airplane are the coun-
ter-rotating propellers on both wings; both propellers on each
wing rotate in opposite directions to each other, down in-
between. If both engines on a
wing are operating, the shift of
the thrust vector with increasing
angle of attack is always to-
wards the other engine on the
same wing. The effect of this is
that the resulting (combined)
thrust vector of both engines on
the same wing does not shift as
the angle of attack of the air-
plane increases when the speed
is decreased, or is low, as long
W
L
D
W
L
D
Figure 11. Side view with Lift,
Drag and Weight vectors.
Figure 14. Airbus A400M with
counter-rotating propellers.
N
T
Arm R
Arm L
N
r
N
T
Arm R
Arm L
N
r
Figure 12. Thrust distribution
on propeller blades, side view.
b b
T
b b
V
r
T
V
V
r
V
r
V
T
T
V
r
b b
T
b b
V
r
T
V
V
r
V
r
V
T
T
V
r
Figure 13. P-factor.
N
T
Arm T
2
T
1
T
2
Arm T
1 N
T
Arm T
2
T
1
T
2
Arm T
1
Figure 10. Effect of Bank Angle and Gross Weight on VMCA2
Two Engines Inoperative, Maximum Continuous Takeoff Thrust.
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
160 180 200 220 240 260
Weight (1,000 lb)
A
c
t
u
a
l

V
M
C
A
2

(
k
t
)
-10
-5
0
3
5
Vs
4-engine turbojet, TEI
X
X
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
160 180 200 220 240 260
Weight (1,000 lb)
A
c
t
u
a
l

V
M
C
A
2

(
k
t
)
-10
-5
0
3
5
Vs
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
160 180 200 220 240 260
Weight (1,000 lb)
A
c
t
u
a
l

V
M
C
A
2

(
k
t
)
-10
-5
0
3
5
Vs
X
X
X
X
VMCA2 Flight Manual ( = 5)
as both engines are operating. There is no overall P-factor; there
will be no difference in magnitude of thrust yawing moments N
T

after failure of either engine #1 or #4 with increasing , only in
direction. This means that V
MCA
after failure of either one of the
outboard engines will be the same, unless (boosting) systems,
that may be required for controlling the airplane, are not installed
on both outboard engines. This airplane does therefore not have
a left- or right-hand critical engine; both outboard engines are
equally critical.
If an outboard engine fails, for instance #1 as shown in Figure
14 above, the moment arm of the vector of the remaining thrust
on that wing reduces from in between the engines to a bit outside
of the remaining inboard engine, as shown in Figure 14. The
resulting N
T
is much lower than would be the case for conven-
tional propeller rotation. The maximum Y
r
and N
r
to be gener-
ated by the rudder can be smaller and consequently, the size of
vertical fin of this airplane can be reduced. There is however
one very important condition: the feathering system of the big 8-
bladed, 17.5 ft (5.33 m) diameter and therefore high drag propel-
lers must be automatic, very rapid and failure free to ensure the
lowest possible propeller drag following a propulsion system
malfunction. If not, the failure of the feathering system of an
outboard engine will increase propeller drag, which in turn en-
hances N
T
considerably therewith increasing actual V
MCA
. The
control power generated by the small vertical fin and rudder
alone is low by the small design. Only rapid reduction of thrust
of the opposite engine, or (increased) airspeed can restore the
required control power to maintain straight flight following the
failure of a feathering system. Designing and approving the
feathering system for this airplane will be a real challenge to
design engineers and to certification authorities.
On airplanes with very powerful engines, an asymmetrical thrust
problem is also being solved by applying automatic thrust
asymmetry compensation, see also 3.4, but this has conse-
quences for takeoff performance as well.
Flight manuals present the V
MCA
that is determined after fail-
ure of the (or a) critical engine. This provides the highest, the
worst case, V
MCA
that is valid as long as the bank angle is the
same as used for sizing the vertical tail and during V
MCA
testing,
and the thrust is maximal. The actual V
MCA
after failure of any
other engine is lower which is safer. The word 'critical' is only
of use to airplane design engineers and test pilots to make sure
they use and determine the highest V
MCA
after failure of any of
the engines. Airline pilots should not have to worry whether a
failing engine is critical or not; they should not even have to
learn about the criticality of an engine. Just a single V
MCA
, that
is a safe minimum control speed before and after failure of any
of the engines, applies, as does only a single engine emergency
procedure. Maintaining the small bank angle away from the
inoperative engine(s) however, is a live-saving condition for the
lowest, safest possible actual V
MCA
, whether the inoperative
engine is critical or not.
3.4. Engine thrust, altitude and temperature
The thrust setting used on the remaining engine(s) for deter-
mining V
MCA
is the maximum thrust that is guaranteed by the
manufacturer in the specification of the engines. The higher the
asymmetrical thrust setting, the higher the rudder requirement
will be and/ or the higher the airspeed must be to provide the
required rudder control power ( V
2
) for straight flight; actual
V
MCA
is higher. As discussed before, if the aerodynamic control
power is insufficient to restore control, or to maintain straight
flight after engine failure, the throttle setting of the engine oppo-
site of the failed or inoperative engine must be decreased a little,
but only as much as required to restore or maintain control.
On some airplanes with very powerful engines (and a too
small vertical fin), a thrust asymmetry control system decreases
the thrust of the engine opposite of the failing engine automati-
cally as required. This keeps the actual V
MCA
to a safe low
level. A system like this, if fitted, must have been considered
important if not indispensable by the manufacturer for restoring
and maintaining control after engine failure. The consequence is
that this system will also decrease the remaining climb perfor-
mance upon activation.
If the thrust of the engines depends on air density (altitude)
and temperature, increasing altitude will decrease the thrust.
After engine failure at high altitude, the asymmetrical thrust will
be lower as well as is the requirement for rudder control power
after engine failure. The actual V
MCA
will be lower as well.
If the outside air temperature increases, engine thrust decreas-
es and actual V
MCA
decreases. A too big variation of engine
thrust with density and temperature leads to a big variation of
actual V
MCA
's, which is the reason that (turboprop) airplane
manufacturers provide several charts with V
MCA
data for differ-
ent altitudes and temperatures in the flight manual.
During an approach while an engine is inoperative, the thrust
setting is low and hence the actual V
MCA
is low as well. If a go-
around becomes necessary, adding asymmetrical thrust increases
actual V
MCA
simultaneously with the thrust. To avoid controlla-
bility problems, the acceleration to the go-around speed must be
performed while still flying down the glide path before initiating
the climb, using symmetrical thrust, while adding as much
asymmetrical thrust as possible to maintain straight flight.
While adding asymmetrical thrust, simultaneous rudder deflec-
tion as well as gradual banking to the specified 3 to 5, both
away from the inoperative engine is required to keep actual
V
MCA
as low as possible and prevent the loss of control.
Asymmetrical engine thrust has the greatest effect on V
MCA
.
Actual V
MCA
is most critical (highest) when the thrust setting is
high and will be no factor for airplane control if the thrust is low.
3.5. Thrust derating and flexible thrust
In the case of thrust derating, the surplus thrust that is in the
engine design is not available at hand by setting the thrust or
power levers (throttles) in the cockpit, but only by engineers by
changing settings on the engine itself at the time of engine fit-
ting. This is common practice for installing similar engines on
different types of airplane. Thrust derating might be required to
limit the maximum asymmetrical thrust moment to the maxi-
mum available rudder control power at the desired takeoff speed
following the failure of an engine. The V
MCA
listed in the flight
manual will be based on this derated thrust.
On some modern types of airplane though, thrust derating is
settable to several levels during preflight from the cockpit for the
next takeoff. Then the flight manual must present a set of per-
formance data for every possible derated maximum thrust set-
ting, including a specific V
MCA
as operating limitation, because
V
MCA
is dependent on the maximum thrust that can be set with
the thrust levers. The V
MCA
after this kind of thrust derating is
lower because the maximum thrust yawing moment N
T
is lower
following engine failure and after moving the throttles fully
forward (to the derated maximum).
Flexible or reduced takeoff thrust is a thrust level less than the
maximum settable thrust with the throttles. It is being used to
preserve engine life. An assumed higher outside air temperature
and/ or reduced throttle setting are used to achieve the lowest
possible thrust level for a takeoff on the available runway length.
In this case, still the same V
MCA
data apply as for the available
highest takeoff thrust setting, because maximum takeoff thrust is
still settable anytime by moving the throttles forward. As long
as the thrust setting during flexible or reduced takeoff is lower,
the actual V
MCA
is lower. If however, following the failure of an
engine, the thrust levers of the operating engines are set (by
procedure) from the flex setting to maximum available thrust to
achieve maximum climb performance, then the actual V
MCA

increases again to the value presented in the flight manual, pro-
vided the bank angle is 5, or the number of degrees specified by
the applicant, away from the failed engine.
3.6. Control deflection
V
MCA
of a multi-engine airplane is determined when the rud-
der and/ or ailerons are either fully deflected or after reaching a
predetermined rudder or aileron control force limit, whichever
occurs first during the test (explained in 4). If the rudder is not
fully deflected (while the thrust is maximum) to maintain the
straight flight equilibrium, then the actual airspeed for the ver-
tical fin with rudder to generate a side force high enough to
counter the still same high asymmetrical thrust will have to
be higher than the airspeed that was measured during the flight-
test to determine the FAR and CS based V
MCA
for which fully
deflected directional controls were used (provided the maximum
approved control force is not exceeded). This actual airspeed for
maintaining control is therefore higher than the AFM published
V
MCA
that was determined under FAR and CS 23.149 and
25.149.
On military transport airplanes, only a maximum of (75%) of
the available control power of rudder and ailerons may be used
to determine V
MCA
, to leave some control power margin for
countering gusts and control forces may be higher. This in fact
means that the V
MCA
's of airplane types that are used both as
civilian and as military transports could differ from each other;
the 'military' V
MCA
's are higher.
3.7. Slipstream effects
Asymmetrical and spiraling slipstream effects might influence
the recovery after engine failure, as well as the value of V
MCA
,
because the slipstream might influence the air stream around the
horizontal and vertical tail. Some airplanes have vortex inducers
on the vertical fin to prevent an early fin stall when the sideslip
angle increases during equilibrium flight with an inoperative
engine. Slipstream effects might have influence on the value of
both static and dynamic V
MCA
and, if the effects are dominant,
the slipstream might even determine which of the engines is
critical. During flight-testing V
MCA
, slipstream effects, if any,
will have effect during the determination of V
MCA
, for the sides-
lip and bank angles tested. However, if during operations fol-
lowing engine failure a bank angle is allowed that leads to an
increased sideslip angle, the slipstream effects might increase
actual V
MCA
to a value higher than the listed V
MCA
or to an early
fin stall.

3.8. Propellers
After an engine failure, the airflow will start driving the not
yet feathered propeller (windmilling) causing the drag of the
propeller to increase significantly. The yawing moment generat-
ed by this drag increases the asymmetrical yawing moment of
the opposite operating engine, which during takeoff or go-
around is at maximum available takeoff thrust setting to attain
the maximum available climb performance. The lower the pro-
peller drag, the lower the asymmetrical yawing moment and the
less rudder deflection is required to maintain straight flight at
any given airspeed. Most propellers are equipped with a fea-
thering system that automatically feathers the propeller blades
after engine failure (unless disabled or not armed). Feathering a
propeller will decrease its drag considerably. Small twin-engine
airplanes might not have a feathering system; after engine fail-
ure, the propeller might continue to windmill, causing high
propeller drag. The V
MCA
of these airplanes is determined with
this high drag and will therefore be high enough to be able to
maintain control, provided again the bank angle is 5, or the
number of degrees specified by the manufacturer during certifi-
cation, away from the failed engine.
Propellers will only auto-feather after engine failure if the
feathering system is enabled or armed, which is normally set
prior to both takeoff and landing (in anticipation of an engine
failure during go-around). If feathering was used for determin-
ing V
MCA
, the asymmetrical thrust yawing moment N
T
without
feathering is (much) bigger and hence greater rudder deflection
is required for straight flight: actual V
MCA
is higher. This has a
consequence for training too. A realistic V
MCA
cannot be dem-
onstrated by just idling one engine. This is the reason that air-
plane manufacturers provide a (number of) thrust setting(s) to be
set on the simulated inoperative engine to match the drag of a
feathered propeller. The setting corresponds to zero drag, or
zero thrust.
For determining V
MCA
, the propeller has to be in the pitch set-
ting that it assumes by itself after engine failure without pilot
intervention, which is either windmilling or feathered. V
MCA

data in flight manuals are based on this condition although some
manufacturers report two V
MCA
's, one with and one without auto-
feathered propeller depending on the criticality of the auto feath-
er system of the airplane. The drag of an idling propeller is
higher than the drag of a feathered propeller. This higher drag
enhances the asymmetrical thrust yawing moment N
T
. More
rudder deflection is required for straight flight or a higher air-
speed if the rudder is at maximum deflection; hence, V
MCA
is
higher.
Torque and gyroscopic effects due to rotating engines and
propellers are mostly neglected in the V
MCA
analysis. These
effects, as well as the rapidness of the automatic feathering
process, if any, play their role in determining the dynamic V
MCA

or during transient effects testing ( 4.2) . The effects will be
included in the listed V
MCA
.
Conclusion. In the case that the propeller of an inoperative
engine is in a configuration other than used during testing for
V
MCA
, the actual V
MCA
might be much higher than the charted
V
MCA
, which is very unsafe if (much) thrust has to be added on
the operating engine(s) during a go-around. A suspected failed
propeller-engine should never be left idling as a 'standby source
of thrust '; the engine should be shut down or set to provide zero
thrust/ drag in order for the actual V
MCA
to be as low as, or be-
low the listed V
MCA
. If a propeller is not feathered (because the
engine is kept idling) or if the feathering system fails (or is not
armed), the drag and, hence, actual V
MCA
is much higher the han
listed (and indicated) V
MCA
. Loss of control will occur as soon
as (asymmetrical) thrust is increased (during approach or go-
around).
Flight training with an inoperative propeller-engine should be
performed using some thrust on the simulated dead engine to
simulate zero thrust/ drag to be able to demonstrate a more rea-
listic V
MCA
. Training the appropriate response to a sudden en-
gine failure however, requires actually shutting down an engine
in-flight.
3.9. Effect of center of gravity on VMCA
Longitudinal center of gravity. The yawing moment generat-
ed by the rudder (N
r
), is the product of the moment arm or
distance from the center of
gravity to the aerodynamic
force Y
r
developed by the
rudder. If the center of gravity
is at its approved aft limit, the
yawing moment generated by
the vertical tail and rudder
deflection is smallest. If the
center of gravity is more for-
ward, the moment arm to the
rudder force Y
r
is longer and
rudder deflection can be small-
er to counter N
T
(Figure 15
below). Now the airspeed
Figure 15. Center of gravity
shift, longitudinal and lateral.
N
T
Arm T
2
T
2
Arm
r
N
r
Y
r
N
T
Arm T
2
T
2
Arm
r
N
r
Y
r
could be further decreased until rudder deflection is again maxi-
mum: actual V
MCA
with a forward center of gravity is lower.
Lateral center of gravity. A lateral center of gravity shift also
affects V
MCA
. A lateral shift of the center of gravity into the
inoperative engine for instance increases the asymmetrical thrust
moment of the live engine(s) and requires a higher counteracting
force: more rudder and aileron deflection are required, or if these
are maximum already, the airspeed needs to be higher: actual
V
MCA
increases. Therefore, flight manuals present a maximum
allowable wing-fuel asymmetry or imbalance to avoid controlla-
bility problems after engine failure due to the lateral shift of the
center of gravity.
Considering all possible centers of gravity for determining the
V
MCA
would be excessively complicated. V
MCA
is therefore
determined with the center of gravity at the maximum approved
lateral position into the critical engine and most aft, both
representing the worst case, because this returns the highest
V
MCA
due to center of gravity shift (at the proper bank angle).
During normal operations, the actual V
MCA
will not increase
above the published value due to any center of gravity shift
within the approved envelope. Airline pilots therefore do not
have to worry whether the center of gravity is forward or aft, left
or right. The listed V
MCA
is valid for any center of gravity, as
long as the small bank angle is maintained away from the in-
operative engine.
Conclusion. The worst-case center of gravity position is used
for determining V
MCA
, which is a center of gravity positioned
most aft and laterally into the critical engine, both within the
approved envelope. The position of the center of gravity is not a
variable factor in the V
MCA
charts in flight manuals; this would
unnecessary complicate the looking-up of the applicable V
MCA

during preflight or before landing.
As preparation for any landing, a go-around has to be antic-
ipated. To increase the safety of a go-around, part of the prepa-
ration for a landing with an already inoperative engine on a 4 or
more engine airplane could be to move the center of gravity to a
position that decreases actual V
MCA
, i.e. as much forward and
away from the inoperative engine as the center of gravity
envelope allows. This could be done by transferring fuel away
from the inoperative engine and forward, and/ or by moving
cargo or passengers forward, if at all possible and feasible.
3.10. Rudder boosting
On big airplanes, the rudder is boosted by a hydraulic system
to increase the rudder deflection per pound (or Newton) of pedal
force, which is of course important for maintaining control under
asymmetrical thrust conditions. The boost system will only be
available at low airspeeds to avoid damage to the vertical tail and
might be automatically switched on as flaps are selected down in
stages of one or more different boost pressure levels. If a hy-
draulic pump that powers the boost system happens to be driven
by the inoperative engine, the boost pressure might be lower than
required, or not be available at all. If the airplane is equipped
with only one hydraulic pump driven by one of the engines, that
engine might have to be defined as the critical engine.
If the flap handle is not selected above a certain setting, rudder
boosting might not be switched on and actual V
MCA
will be much
higher than anticipated. The boost system has a very powerful
effect on the value of V
MCA
. If not switched on, a V
MCA
increase
of 30 knots is not exceptional. Refer to your flight manual to
find out whether flap handle position affects V
MCA
on the air-
plane of interest.
3.11. Landing gear, flaps, slats and spoilers
The drag of the landing gear is symmetrical about the center
of gravity, provided the pilot maintains straight flight with no
sideslip. Then, the extended landing gear might have no influ-
ence on V
MCA
. The total drag of course is higher, on some air-
planes just a little, on other airplane types more. If however
sideslip angle is not zero, the extended landing gear has some
influence on the equilibrium of lateral forces and moments.
Because the moment arms of the main landing gears to the center
of gravity are small, the yawing moments due to gear drag will
not be big; furthermore, the drag induced forces act behind the
center of gravity (for nose gear airplanes). It depends on the
direction of the sideslip, whether these forces are in the same
direction or opposite of the rudder generated side force. During
side slipping, the side force of the nose gear on big airplanes has
a much longer moment arm to the center of gravity. If the pilot
allows a sideslip to build up by keeping the wings level after
engine failure, the nose gear will generate a side force due to
drag and hence an additional yawing moment that requires a
change of rudder deflection: actual V
MCA
will either increase or
decrease.
A lowered landing gear has no asymmetrical effects if the sides-
lip is zero. Zero sideslip can be achieved with a small 3 to 5
bank angle, as was explained in 2.2.2 and 3.1. In addition, as
long as the landing gear is down, its drag of course decreases the
rate of climb, but retracting the gear might temporarily decrease
the available rudder boost pressure ( 3.10), therewith temporari-
ly reducing the rudder deflection and increasing actual V
MCA
.
Check your airplane flight manual whether the gear should be
left extended until reaching a safer speed and/ or altitude.
Flaps and slats, after extension, might have an effect on the
airflow striking the tail and therewith affect V
MCA
. In addition,
on propeller airplanes, flaps might lead to a roll rate due to
asymmetrical propulsive thrust. The flap handle might also be
mechanized to switch on or increase the rudder boost pressure
system, so the position of the flap selector handle has influence
on the rudder control force and on V
MCA
. On some airplanes,
V
MCA
with flaps up is more than 10 kt higher than with takeoff
flaps. If boost would be off or low as might be the case with
the flap handle at zero V
MCA
would be much higher. This
increase of V
MCA
is indeed a factor to consider while returning to
base while an engine is inoperative.
V
MCA
is to be determined with gear and flaps extended, but
not with gear and flaps in transition. Refer to the flight manual
of your airplane to find out whether transitioning or retracted
flaps affect V
MCA
on a particular airplane. This would be 'nice'
to know for a safe return to base following the failure of an
engine.
Spoilers affect the lift distribution on, and the drag of the
wings. When flight spoilers kick-in asymmetrically to assist roll
control during the early phases of takeoff, they not only affect
V
MCA
but also decrease the already reduced OEI climb perfor-
mance.
3.12. Ground effect
An airplane is in ground effect if the altitude is less than about
half a wingspan above the ground. On some airplanes, V
MCA

might be influenced by the ground effect, because the aerody-
namic control power might change while the airplane is close to
the ground. On other airplanes, the pitot-static air data system
might be influenced by the ground effect. Then, V
MCA
out of
ground effect might differ a few knots from V
MCA
in ground
effect. The highest V
MCA
of in and out of ground effect should
be used for takeoff.
3.13. Stall speed
Some multi-engine airplanes with the engines mounted close
to the fuselage or with counter-rotating propellers have a V
MCA

that is lower than stall speed V
S
,

in which case the flight manual
either lists no V
MCA
at all, or states that 'the airplane is controlla-
ble down to the stall', which is of course the preferable and most
safe situation. However, as was explained in 3.1, this will only
be the case if the pilot (after engine failure) actually maintains
the bank angle that was used to determine V
MCA
, in most cases
5 away from the inoperative engine. If the bank angle differs
from this favorable bank angle, actual V
MCA
might increase to a
value higher than V
S
and a controllability problem might arise
despite of the statement in the flight manual. Refer to Figure 16
and to 6.
3.14. Load factor
For airplanes that are controllable down to the stall while an
engine is inoperative ( 3.13), a pushover maneuver was some-
times used to decrease the load factor to be able to demonstrate
V
MCA
. During this maneuver, a load factor less than 1 g decreas-
es the apparent weight of the airplane and hence decreases the
stall speed V
S
temporarily below V
MCA
. This way, as was be-
lieved, V
MCA
could be determined or demonstrated.
However, V
MCA
is defined for straight flight (equilibrium), and
its determination includes transient effects. Transient effects of
a sudden engine failure can only be determined from steady
flight, a flight path similar to a normal takeoff flight path, i.e.
unaccelerated flight with a load factor of 1 g, as well as many
other standardized factors and conditions (discussed above).
The dynamics involved, the different air stream and angle of
attack from a normal takeoff flight path (P-factor) and the dura-
tion of these maneuvers make the use of load factor inappro-
priate for determining or demonstrating V
MCA
.
3.15. Configuration changes
Any configuration change, modification or alteration that
changes the position of the lateral center of gravity or changes
the asymmetrical drag, and/ or affects the required rudder and
aileron deflections after failure of an engine, will have influence
on the listed V
MCA
. For instance, the installation of external
(camera) wing pods, antennas and other external equipment on
the wings, as well as changes inside the cabin that influence the
position of the lateral center of gravity, etc. could change the
flight manual listed V
MCA
significantly. Flight-tests are required
to determine the effect of these configuration changes on V
MCA
.
3.16. Climbing flight
An airplane at low gross weight with the engines at takeoff
power setting might develop a considerable rate of climb even
with one engine inoperative. This causes the side force Wsin
to be reduced by a factor cosine of the pitch angle (cos ). The
consequence of a 30 climbing pitch angle is that the bank angle
should be increased by approximately one degree to generate the
same side force as for level flight. If a 5 bank angle was used to
determine V
MCA
, the climbing flight requires a bank angle of 6
to match the listed V
MCA
, which is however is against regula-
tions; so more rudder deflection is required, or a higher speed,
for straight flight: actual V
MCA
increases.
On three and four-engine airplanes, a high rate of climb can be
avoided by reducing the thrust of the centerline engine or of the
symmetrical inboard engines. This does affect neither the thrust
asymmetry nor V
MCA
.
4. FLIGHT-TESTING VMCA
To assist in understanding V
MCA
better, this paragraph is in-
cluded. The flight-test techniques presented below are not the
complete flight-test techniques for engine-out testing; they are
provided to a certain extent and for information purposes only.
Please do not start testing V
MCA
on your own. V
MCA
testing is
not without danger. Experimental test pilots take many precau-
tions; for instance on new or unknown airplanes, they will have
parachutes in the seats and a prepared escape hatch!
As was explained in the previous paragraphs, many variable
factors have influence on the value of V
MCA
. It would be im-
possible to determine a separate V
MCA
for all values of all varia-
ble factors. Therefore, the worst case of many of the variable
factors that influence V
MCA
and produce the highest most
unsafe V
MCA
are used to determine the V
MCA
that will be listed
in the flight manual, with the exception of bank angle. The
advantage of standardizing these factors is that both the testing
and looking up V
MCA
by the flight crew during preflight and
before approach are very much simplified. The consequence
however is that the standardized V
MCA
presented in flight ma-
nuals almost never corresponds to the actual V
MCA
that will be
encountered during a particular flight, but is always on the safe
side for any value of the variable factors.
In most cases, only altitude, temperature and flap setting are
the variable factors during the testing and in the V
MCA
data pro-
vided in the flight manual. As was explained in 3.1, bank
angle influences V
MCA
considerably. During testing, a bank
angle of 3 5 (as opted by the airplane manufacturer) away
from the inoperative engine is used.
The standardized values of the variable factors used during
testing of V
MCA
are presented below; the numbers between pa-
rentheses refer to the paragraphs where more details can be
found:
A bank angle of 5 away from the inoperative engine, or
less than 5 at the option of the applicant of the certificate
of airworthiness of the airplane (the airplane manufacturer,
3.1);
Lowest possible gross weight (empty airplane, low on fuel,
3.1);
Critical engine inoperative ( 3.3);
Maximum available takeoff thrust on the operating en-
gine(s) ( 3.4, 3.5);
Propeller of the inoperative engine feathered if an automatic
feathering system is installed, otherwise windmilling
( 3.6);
Center of gravity most aft and laterally into the inoperative
engine, in the approved envelope ( 3.9);
A maximum of 150 lb (667 N) on the rudder pedal and a
maximum of 25 lb (112 N) on the aileron control as per
FAR/ CS 23.149 and 25.149; military requirements are
180 lb and 75% control power/ travel respectively, the latter
to maintain a margin to cope with gusts, for transient effects
and to maneuver ( 3.10);
Flaps in takeoff setting or as opted ( 3.11);
Landing gear down or as opted by manufacturer ( 3.11);
Normal load factor 1 g ( 3.14).
The flight-test techniques for performing the V
MCA
testing
([4], [5]) are trained by formal Test Pilot Schools and can also be
found in CS 23 [8] and in FAA Flight Test Guides (AC 23-8B
[6] and AC 25-7A [7]).
V
MCA
is determined at a safe altitude of at least 5,000 ft AGL
after which the data are reduced and extrapolated to sea level
(SL) on a standard day or to different altitudes and temperatures
as required for use in charts.
To prepare for the safe conduct of V
MCA
flight-testing, the ap-
proximate value of V
MCA
is determined by using computer anal-
ysis of models or stability derivatives of the subject airplane.
The technique of predicting V
MCA
is presented in the paper The
Effect of Bank Angle and Weight on the Minimum Control Speed
V
MCA
of an Engine-out Airplane [12]. This technique was also
used to calculate and plot Figures 9, 10, 16 20 in this paper.
Flight-testing begins with selecting the configuration to test,
like takeoff or landing, followed by static and dynamic V
MCA

testing and handling qualities testing. Static and dynamic (or
transient effects) V
MCA
flight-testing are both described in the
following paragraphs.
V
MCL
is the minimum control speed in the approach and land-
ing configuration. V
MCL
testing is performed in the same way as
V
MCA
testing, but the flaps are selected in the landing position
and the asymmetric thrust setting used is go-around thrust. In
addition, a roll requirement exists (FAR/ CS 25.149f).
On 4 or more engine military airplanes, both V
MCA1
and
V
MCA2
(V
MCA
with one (n-1) and two engines (n-2) inoperative
respectively) are determined. FAR and CS however, only re-
quire V
MCA
(is V
MCA1
) to be determined for civil airplanes, but
do require both V
MCL1
and V
MCL2
( 3.2).
Figure 16 below shows the effect of bank angle on actual
V
MCA
(during equilibrium flight) in a different way as the chart
in Figure 9 in 3.1 for the same airplane and conditions. This
plot is also the result of analysis of the stability derivatives [12]
and is used to become aware of limitations that might show up
during actual flight-testing. These plots can be made for sea
level and for any altitude, including the test altitude (the engine
thrust changes with altitude). V
MCA
in the plots was calculated
using the maximum of either aileron deflection (20), rudder
deflection (30) or sideslip (14) versus bank angle. The pedal
force limit (150 lb or 667 N) was not included. On this airplane,
a in excess of 14 should be avoided to prevent the vertical
fin from stalling, therefore, as shown in the second plot in Figure
16, sideslip (14) is the limiting factor for bank angles exceed-
ing the range 1 to +10; rudder deflection (max. 30) is the
limiting factor between 0 and +6. Furthermore, on this specif-
ic airplane type, V
MCA
is expected to be lower than the stall
speed at bank angles between 4 and 7 (at the test weight,
which is low weight). The airplane is said to be controllable
down to the stall but, as is shown in Figure 16, this is true only
for bank angles between 4 and 7 away from the inoperative
engine (test weight). Actual flight-test data, or analysis of dif-
ferent types of airplane, might show different lines from the ones
shown here. Refer to 2.2.3 for details on this equilibrium.
The same test procedure is prepared and repeated on military
4 or more engine airplanes to determine V
MCA2
. The second
engine to be shut down is the engine next to the outer (critical)
engine on the same wing. This generates the highest yawing
moments possible, hence the worst case V
MCA2
. Figure 17 below
illustrates the results of the pre test-flight analysis. At the test
weight (low gross weight) and at a bank angle of 5 away from
the inoperative engine (positive in this example), V
MCA2
is ex-
pected to be 117 kt and higher than the stall speed. The lowest
theoretical V
MCA2
will be reached at about a 9 bank angle.
However, regulations do not allow the use of a bank angle in
excess of 5 away from the inoperative engine because of the
flow separation on the vertical fin (which on this airplane is
expected above 10 of bank). Flight-testing will be required to
confirm this.
Both Figures 16 and 17 illustrate again the huge influence of
bank angle on the value of actual V
MCA
and lead to one of the
most important recommendations presented in this paper: the
bank angle used to determine V
MCA
must be listed with V
MCA
data
in flight manuals. The presented V
MCA
is only valid if this bank
angle is being maintained.
4.1. Static VMCA flight-testing
Static V
MCA
flight-testing is performed to determine the lowest
airspeed at which the airplane can maintain straight flight with
an inoperative engine in a pre-determined configuration.
First, a trim shot at a safe altitude with symmetrical thrust in
the required test configuration is established at an airspeed ap-
proximately 20 knots higher than the expected V
MCA
that was
determined during the analysis. Then the engine that is expected
to be the critical engine ( 3.3) will be idled, then shut down,
propeller feathered, if applicable, and the opposite engine se-
lected at maximum available thrust while maintaining straight
flight without changing the trim controls. The throttles of the
symmetrical operating engines on 4 or more engine airplanes, or
the centerline engine on 3-engine airplanes, may be set at a
lower (reduced) thrust level as to be able to maintain the altitude
and decrease the speed during the testing of the lightweight test
airplane. For 2-engine airplanes, airspeed will be decreased by
establishing a rate of climb. Data are taken while passing the
test altitude.
While keeping the wings level, the airspeed is gradually de-
creased until the heading can no longer be maintained by rudder
and/ or aileron inputs or until one of the control travel or force
limits (listed in 2.2.1 and on the previous page) is reached.
The speed at which this occurs is the actual V
MCA
for wings
level. Then, while slowing down and maintaining heading, the
bank angle is slowly increased away from the inoperative engine
until the bank angle is 5 degrees (or the number of degrees opted
by the applicant, for instance 3) or until again one of the control
travel or force limits is reached. The turn needle will be centered
and the slip ball will be approximately half a ball width off
center (refer to 2.2.3). The speed at which this occurs is the
formal V
MCA
of the airplane for the test day and test altitude.
The test will also end if during the deceleration the stall speed
V
S
is reached while the bank angle is the opted degrees away
from the inoperative engine. If this happens, the airplane ob-
viously is controllable down to the stall (at this bank angle),
which would be the preferable test result. The prediction for the
sample airplane in Figure 16 shows that the airplane is controlla-
ble down to the stall only if the bank angle is 4 7 away from
the inoperative engine.
Figure 17. Effect of Bank Angle on VMCA2. Turbojet, TEI, 1 g
constant heading flight. Maximum Continuous Takeoff Thrust.
50
100
150
200
250
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
Bank Angle (deg)
S
p
e
e
d

(
K
C
A
S
)
Vmca light
Vs light
V
M
C
A
2
L
o
w

w
e
ig
h
t
Vs - Low weight
X
X
V
MCA2
>
50
100
150
200
250
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
Bank Angle (deg)
S
p
e
e
d

(
K
C
A
S
)
Vmca light
Vs light
V
M
C
A
2
L
o
w

w
e
ig
h
t
Vs - Low weight
X
X
V
MCA2
>
Figure 16. Effect of Bank Angle on VMCA and on rudder ( r) and
aileron ( a) deflections and sideslip angle . Turbojet, OEI, 1 g
constant heading flight. Maximum Continuous Takeoff Thrust.
V
M
C
A
-
L
o
w

w
e
ig
h
t
Vs - Low weight
X
V
MCA
>
50
100
150
200
250
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
Bank Angle (deg)
S
p
e
e
d

(
K
C
A
S
)
Vmca light
Vs light
Control surface deflection and sideslip angle
-35
-25
-15
-5
5
15
25
35
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
Bank angle (deg)
A
n
g
l
e

(
d
e
g
)
delta r
Beta
delta a
0
a
r
V
M
C
A
-
L
o
w

w
e
ig
h
t
Vs - Low weight
X
V
MCA
>
50
100
150
200
250
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
Bank Angle (deg)
S
p
e
e
d

(
K
C
A
S
)
Vmca light
Vs light
-35
-25
-15
-5
5
15
25
35
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
Bank angle (deg)
A
n
g
l
e

(
d
e
g
)
delta r
Beta
delta a
0
a
r
V
M
C
A
-
L
o
w

w
e
ig
h
t
Vs - Low weight
X
V
MCA
>
50
100
150
200
250
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
Bank Angle (deg)
S
p
e
e
d

(
K
C
A
S
)
Vmca light
Vs light
V
M
C
A
-
L
o
w

w
e
ig
h
t
Vs - Low weight
XX
V
MCA
>
50
100
150
200
250
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
Bank Angle (deg)
S
p
e
e
d

(
K
C
A
S
)
Vmca light
Vs light
-35
-25
-15
-5
5
15
25
35
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
Bank angle (deg)
A
n
g
l
e

(
d
e
g
)
delta r
Beta
delta a
0
a
r
Sign conventions:
+a = right aileron
+r = right rudder
+ = wind in right ear
+ = bank to right
While decelerating, several false bank angle zero (false = 0)
points might be observed. At these unstable points, the slip ball
will not be centered. The direction of sideslip should also be
noted. Other data to be recorded are bank angle, sideslip, rudder
force and deflection, aileron force and deflection.
This procedure is normally repeated at lower, still safe alti-
tudes. The acquired V
MCA
test data will be extrapolated to sea
level conditions resulting in the V
MCA
of the tested configuration
that will be published in flight manuals.
To ensure that the engine that is made inoperative in the pro-
cedure described above is indeed the critical engine, the proce-
dure is repeated after shutting down the opposite engine. The
engine that after shutting down returns the highest V
MCA
is the
critical engine ( 3.3).
The same test procedure is repeated on 4 or more engine air-
planes to determine the minimum control speed with two engines
inoperative (TEI, V
MCA2
). The second engine to be shut down is
the engine inboard of the first shutdown engine on the same
wing. This generates the highest, the worst case V
MCA2
.
As already mentioned before, the bank angle has great influ-
ence on V
MCA
. Therefore the bank angle that is used to deter-
mine V
MCA
, which is in most cases 3 5 away from the in-
operative engine, is an important test condition and should be
specified in certification documentation as well as in the airplane
flight manual with the V
MCA
data.
It will be obvious that the V
MCA
that is determined this way is
definitely not a minimum speed for maneuvering, but for main-
taining straight flight while maintaining the opted bank angle
only. Any deviation from this bank angle might result in a high-
er actual V
MCA
and the risk of loosing control.
4.2. Dynamic VMCA or transient effects flight-testing
An airline pilot must be able to avoid dangerous conditions
that might result from a sudden engine failure in flight, especial-
ly during takeoff or go-around when the airspeed is low. The
test method is to stabilize with symmetrical thrust (trim shot) and
then cut-off the fuel supply to the critical engine. After observ-
ing a realistic time delay for recognition, decision and reaction
(normally 2 seconds total), the test pilot arrests the airplane
motion and achieves engine-out straight flight. Data to be rec-
orded are the changes in yaw, bank angle, sideslip, rudder force
and deflection, aileron force and deflection, the lost airspeed and
the new rate of climb.
Of course, experimental test pilots start the engine cuts at a
safe airspeed higher than V
MCA
and gradually decrease speed for
the next test points. Tests on propeller airplanes are performed
with auto-feather on and off, if applicable. Normally, only a
small number of test points are required to check the validity of
the measured static V
MCA
's for transient effects.
Requirements for these tests are that control should be main-
tained without exceeding a heading change of 20 (or excessive
yaw or a rudder pedal force of 150 lb in accordance with
FAR/ CS 23/ 25 Flight Test Guides ([6], [7], [8]). The bank
angle should not exceed 45; no dangerous attitudes may occur.
The lowest airspeed at which these requirements are met is
called dynamic V
MCA
. Torque and gyroscopic effects of rotating
engines or propellers might have influence on the dynamic
V
MCA
, as might propeller slipstream effects.
The flight manual should present the higher of the dynamic
V
MCA
and static V
MCA
to be able to survive an engine failure.
4.3. Other airborne engine-out evaluations
Other airborne engine-out evaluations may include, but are not
limited to a go-around evaluation (performed at a safe altitude),
an approach, a landing and a takeoff. These tests are very dan-
gerous, require extreme care and hence are not recommended to
be performed without proper knowledge and training; the crew
must be very cognizant and well prepared. The incorrect appli-
cation of rudder and ailerons might lead to an attitude from
which safe recovery is not possible. In case another engine fails
during the maneuver, immediate reduction of asymmetrical
thrust might be required to save the airplane and the souls on
board.
The flight-testing of airplanes with fly-by-wire flight control
systems might have to differ from the procedures described
above. Some flight control systems of electric jets schedule
controls without the pilot noticing, following the failure of an
engine. Control surfaces are deflected without any stick input,
and without the test pilot realizing what is going on. It will be
evident that the data acquired during V
MCA
testing need to in-
clude the actual control surface deflection data of aileron, rudder
and elevator, as well as actual thrust data measured at each en-
gine.

5. IMPROVED ENGINE EMERGENCY PROCEDURE
In 2.1 of this paper, a part of a possible engine emergency
procedure was described that is listed in most flight manuals
today. In 2.2, several options for straight flight were discussed
that are possible after engine failure and which warrant a safe
continuation of a flight. In 3 most variable factors were dis-
cussed that have influence on V
MCA
and in 4, a brief descrip-
tion was presented of how the flight-testing is performed to
determine V
MCA
. Using all of this information, readers of this
paper might agree that a few more very important control inputs
are definitely required to improve the engine failure emergency
procedure and therewith increase the probability of survival of
an engine failure during takeoff or go-around as well as the
subsequent return to the airport. The recommended first steps of
the procedure are as follows; the modified and added parts are in
italic print.
Identify which engine failed (e.g. dead leg dead engine);
Apply both rudder and aileron away from the inoperative
engine to return to runway heading, and simultaneously:
Bank the specified number of degrees (3 5) away from
the inoperative engine and maintain this bank angle;
Note: If rudder and/ or ailerons do not generate enough
control power for recovery, reduce the opposite throttle
temporarily as much as required to regain control;
On 3- and 4 or more engine airplanes:
Increase thrust on the centerline or on the symmetrical en-
gine(s) first to maximum available (takeoff) thrust and add
as much asymmetrical power as possible to maintain direc-
tional control, while maintaining the specified bank angle
(3 5) away from the inoperative engine. (During go-
around, accelerate to V
MCA2
down the glide slope before
applying maximum asymmetrical thrust.)
On 2-engine airplanes:
Apply as much thrust as possible to maintain directional
control, while maintaining the specified bank angle (3
5) away from the inoperative engine.
Increase airspeed using pitch control, if feasible, to the best
single engine rate of climb speed, the best angle of climb
speed, or to takeoff safety speed V
2
.
During the flight following the engine failure, maintain a
speed well above V
MCA
and avoid turns into the dead engine
side to prevent actual V
MCA
from increasing above indicated
(calibrated) airspeed. If the airplane does not respond to
the control inputs, reduce the opposite throttle as much as
required to regain control.
WARNI NG: The listed V
MCA
is the minimum speed for main-
taining straight flight with an inoperative engine while the
thrust on the remaining engines is at maximum available (ta-
keoff) setting. This V
MCA
is valid only while banking the speci-
fied number of degrees away from the inoperative engine.
V
MCA
is not a safe minimum speed for maneuvering!
This part of the engine emergency procedure is the same for
all multi-engine airplanes after failure of any of the engines.
Feathering the propeller of the inoperative turboprop engine is
not in this procedure, since V
MCA
is determined with the propel-
ler in the position it assumes by itself after engine failure. How-
ever, it will not hurt to check whether the propeller is indeed
feathered, or to manually feather the propeller as soon as possi-
ble to reduce the asymmetrical propeller drag, therewith decreas-
ing actual V
MCA
, and improving flight safety.
As was explained before, the V
MCA
listed in flight manuals is a
standardized minimum control speed for maintaining straight
flight. Actual V
MCA
might be lower (safer), for instance because
the center of gravity is forward ( 3.9) or the failed engine is not
the critical engine ( 3.3). If the airspeed is not increased to a
value (well) above actual V
MCA
before maneuvering away from
the also called favorable 3 to 5 of bank angle while the
thrust setting of the opposite engine is high, straight flight can
definitely not be maintained (refer to 3.1). The airplane will
become uncontrollable and, if the altitude is too low to recover,
the flight will still end in calamity, even after surviving the
dynamics of the engine failure itself.
Besides copying this improved emergency procedure to all
multi-engine airplane flight manuals, it is recommended to in-
clude also the cautions and notes that are presented in 8.3.
Unfortunately, actual V
MCA
is not displayed (yet) on cockpit
instruments or displays. The V
MCA
data taken from flight ma-
nuals and copied to a takeoff & landing data (TO/LD) card and
correct procedures must be used instead.

6. TAKEOFF SAFETY SPEED V2
Takeoff safety speed V
2
is one of the procedural speeds used
for planning and performing a takeoff with FAR/ CS Part 25
multi-engine airplanes.
As the name implies, V
2
is supposed to be a safe speed during
takeoff, especially if an engine fails after passing decision speed
V
1
. In the analysis below, airspeed data of the sample 4-engine
turbojet airplane presented before in this paper will be used to
show that there is a very important condition to indeed make V
2

a safe takeoff speed.
V
2
as defined in FAR/ CS 25.107 (c) must provide at least a
(certain) positive one engine inoperative gradient of climb and
may not be less than:
minimum V
2
(V
2MIN
);
V
R
plus the speed increment attained before reaching 35 ft
above the runway level.
V
2MIN
may not be less than 1.10 V
MCA
for all airplanes. In
addition, a requirement exists for V
2MIN
to be at least 1.08 or
1.13 V
SR
, dependant on the number of engines and provisions
for power-on stall speed reduction. V
SR
is the reference stall
speed. Since the exact increment above rotation speed V
R
,
which is attained before reaching 35 ft above the runway level, is
unknown for this sample airplane, the V
2
data shown in the
figures below is V
2MIN
.
As was mentioned before in this paper, it was not possible to
use flight-test determined V
MCA
, V
S
and V
2
data of a real air-
plane since these data are usually proprietary and not accessible.
Therefore, data from analysis of stability derivatives of a sample
4-engine turbojet airplane, that are normally used to prepare for
V
MCA
flight-testing, were used [12]. As was explained before in
3, other standardized variables for determining V
MCA
are the
lowest gross weight possible and the most aft center of gravity in
the approved envelope as well as the worst cases of other va-
riables that have influence on V
MCA
.
V
MCA
of the sample airplane of Figure 18 at a bank angle of 5
is expected to be 75 kt (solid low-weight line). This is lower
than the stall speed V
S
at low weight (85 kt, see Figure 16).
Therefore V
2MIN
by regulatory definition depends on V
S

only: V
2MIN
at low weight and small bank angle for this sample
airplane is 1.13 V
SR
= 1.13 85 = 96 kt.
However, as was explained in 3.1, bank angle has great ef-
fect on the actual value of V
MCA
. If the pilot does not maintain a
favorable bank angle of 5 away from the inoperative engine, but
only 3, the actual V
MCA
will increase to 95 kt and is now very
close to the preflight calculated V
2MIN
(96 kt). If the pilot would
maintain an airspeed equal to V
2MIN
while the bank angle is less
than 5, or while keeping the wings level following the failure of
an engine, controllability problems at this low takeoff weight
will almost be unavoidable.
If the manufacturer had recommended a 3 bank angle away
from the failed engine (instead of 5), the standard V
2MIN
for low
takeoff weights would have to be the higher of 1.10 V
MCA
at 3
= 1.10 95 = 104 kt and 1.13 V
S
= 1.13 85 = 96 kt, so the
actual V
2MIN
would have to be 104 kt. V
2MIN
for a takeoff with
the wings kept level, should have to be recalculated to 1.10
119 = 131 kt! This higher takeoff speed leads to longer takeoff
runs or less payload, which is what airlines do not like. There-
fore, V
MCA
is being determined while using a small bank angle;
this keeps actual V
MCA
and therewith also V
2MIN
lower, required
takeoff length shorter (and profits higher).
Normally, while using a small bank angle and at high gross
weight, V
2MIN
is well above actual V
MCA
and by definition 8
to 13% above V
S
. This is also illustrated in Figure 19 below.
Figure 19 is similar to Figure 9, but with V
2MIN
data added. The
V
2MIN
data in this figure are calculated using V
MCA
for 3 bank
angle.
The figure shows that, if the 3 bank angle that was used to
determine V
MCA
is not maintained, actual V
MCA
is almost always
higher than V
2MIN
. If the pilot does not bank 3 away from the
inoperative engine, but keeps the wings level following the
failure of an engine, as is being advertised in many engine emer-
gency procedures, the actual V
MCA
will be 119 kt for all weights
(Figure 19). For wings level and at gross weights of 245,000 lb
or above, the actual V
MCA
is just below the preflight calculated
V
2MIN
(122 kt). This implies that at this weight and bank angle,
the 10% safety margin that V
2MIN
is supposed to provide (above
V
MCA
) is almost completely vanished; takeoff safety is at stake.
Therefore, the consequence of keeping the wings level following
the failure of an engine is that the actual value of V
2MIN
should
be increased to 1.1 actual V
MCA
= 1.1 119 = 131 kt to main-
tain the regulatory intended safety margin.
50
100
150
200
250
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
Bank Angle (deg)
V
M
C
A

(
K
C
A
S
)
Vmca light
Vmca heavy
V2 light
V2 heavy
V
2MIN
high weight
V
2MIN
low weight
X
V
M
C
A
h
i
g
h

w
e
i
g
h
t
V
M
C
A
l
o
w

w
e
i
g
h
t
Safe for any V
2MIN Data basis: analysis
50
100
150
200
250
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
Bank Angle (deg)
V
M
C
A

(
K
C
A
S
)
Vmca light
Vmca heavy
V2 light
V2 heavy
V
2MIN
high weight
V
2MIN
low weight
XX
V
M
C
A
h
i
g
h

w
e
i
g
h
t
V
M
C
A
l
o
w

w
e
i
g
h
t
Safe for any V
2MIN Data basis: analysis
Figure 18. Effect of Bank Angle on VMCA and V2, One Engine
Inoperative, Maximum Continuous Takeoff Thrust.
Since the airspeed during takeoff or go-around will be V
2MIN

or a little higher before and after engine failure at or below 400
ft, the consequences of banking away from the favorable bank
angle (3 to 5 away from the inoperative engine) might be that
the airplane will start drifting away from the runway centerline
and that control will be lost already as soon as the wings turn
through wings level. The airplane might continue to roll into the
dead-engine-side until the flight ends in calamity. If controls
seem ineffective, these uncommanded yawing and rolling mo-
tions, can only be counteracted by immediately decreasing ac-
tual V
MCA
, which at that time can only be achieved by tempo-
rarily reducing the asymmetrical thrust, which instantaneously
decreases actual V
MCA
to a more safe value. If altitude is availa-
ble to exchange it for speed, that is an option too, but this might
take too much time.
Instrument flying procedures and departure procedures are
simpler with bank angle zero, so may be because of the 8 to 13%
margin of V
2MIN
above V
S
, it is often said that the wings can be
kept level while maintaining V
2
. However, if the wings are
indeed kept level, the actual V
MCA
is usually 10 40 kt higher
than the flight manual listed V
MCA
(depending on airplane type)
and a sideslip cannot be avoided. Therefore, if a (procedural)
bank angle is to be used that differs from the bank angle used to
determine V
MCA
, it is evident that (actual) V
2
needs to be revised
as well, to allow for the procedural wings-level attitude to be
safe.
V
MCA
is the minimum speed for maintaining straight (equili-
brium) flight only, if an engine is inoperative. If however, one
or more of the variable factors that influence V
MCA
(refer to 3)
are not at their worst-case value, actual V
MCA
might be lower
than the published V
MCA
and not increase excessively after bank-
ing away from the favorable bank angle as illustrated in this
paragraph. This might be the reason that following many engine
failures, control could be maintained easily while the wings were
kept level following the failure of an engine or during a training
session with an inoperative engine. Nevertheless, quite a few
accidents have also learned that after initiating a turn, it was
impossible to end the turn (while the thrust was high), return to
the original bank angle because of insufficient control power,
and because the actual V
MCA
increased above the indicated
airspeed. V
MCA
is definitely determined for a reason and the
bank angle condition exists, which is of relevance to pilots 'who
only use V
2
' as well.
V
2MIN
is supposed to add at least a 10% safety margin on top
of the minimum control speed V
MCA
, but that is obviously not
the case if the bank angle is less than the bank angle used to
determine V
MCA
. The pilot assumes to be safe while maintaining
V
2MIN
on the airspeed indicator after engine failure, but the
actual V
2MIN
that should be maintained after banking away from
the favorable bank angle is many knots higher. Not maintaining
the favorable bank angle reduces the safety margin required by
FAR/ CS 25.107 considerably or even nulls it.
As illustrated in Figure 19, V
MCA
is usually considered the
leading factor for calculating V
2
at low airplane weights; V
S
is
the leading factor for calculating V
2
at high weights and for
airplanes that are said to be controllable down to the stall. V
S

increases with weight and only slightly with small bank angles
around wings level (by a factor of 1/cos ). Referring to the
analysis above, it will be clear that V
MCA
is not only the leading
factor for calculating V
2
for low weights, but also for high
weights and for airplanes that are controllable down to the stall,
if the bank angle is deviating from the bank angle used to deter-
mine V
MCA
, even if this is just a few degrees. This however, is
never mentioned with the calculation and display of V
2
.
Figure 20 below shows the effect of bank angle and weight on
actual V
MCA2
and on (actual) V
2
after failure of two engines on
the same wing. V
MCA2
(with a bank angle 5 away from the
inoperative engine) is 117 kt. V
2MIN
at low gross weight is the
higher of 1.1 V
MCA2
= 1.1 117 = 129 kt and 1.13 V
S
=
1.13 85 = 96 kt, so the actual V
2MIN
would have to be 129 kt,
as shown in Figure 20. If the airplane weight is low and the
bank angle is 3 instead of 5 away from the inoperative engine,
then actual V
MCA2
is already higher than V
2MIN
; the airplane will
not be controllable at or below this 3 bank angle. At maximum
gross weight and a 3 bank angle, 1.13 V
S
= 1.13 108 = 123
kt (see V
S
line in Figure 19). Hence, actual V
MCA2
is dominating
and actual V
2MIN
is still 129 kt (1.1 actual V
MCA2
).
If the wings are kept level, actual V
MCA2
is 150 kt for all
weights, 21 kt higher than calculated V
2MIN
. Control will be
impossible as well, which will also be the case for other bank
angles. For this airplane, the preflight calculated V
2MIN
is only
safe if a bank angle is maintained between 3 and 7 degrees, i.e.
only during straight (equilibrium) flight!
V
MCA2
, by the way, is only used for military multi-engine air-
planes [11]; FAR 25 and CS 25 do not have a requirement for
determining and using V
MCA2
anymore. () V
MCA2
though,
should be the go-around speed in case one of the engines is
already inoperative during the approach. V
MCA2
should not have
been deleted out of civil regulations.
Conclusion. In order to prevent takeoff accidents after engine
failure, it is certainly required for this sample airplane and
most probably for all multi-engine airplanes to bank the num-
ber of degrees that were used to determine V
MCA
(mostly 3 to
5) away from a failing engine immediately. This will keep the
actual V
MCA
below the preflight calculated takeoff safety speed
V
2MIN
.
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
160 180 200 220 240 260
Weight (1,000 lb)
A
c
t
u
a
l

V
M
C
A

(
k
t
)
-10
-5
0
3
Vs
V2
Data basis: analysis X
Bank
angle :
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
160 180 200 220 240 260
Weight (1,000 lb)
A
c
t
u
a
l

V
M
C
A

(
k
t
)
-10
-5
0
3
Vs
V2
Data basis: analysis XX
Bank
angle :
Figure 19. Effect of weight and bank angle on takeoff safety
speed V2. VMCA with bank angle 3 was used here.
MIN
50
100
150
200
250
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
Bank Angle (deg)
V
M
C
A
2

(
K
C
A
S
)
Vmca light
Vmca heavy
V2 light
V2 heavy
X
X
V
M
C
A
2
l
o
w

w
e
i
g
h
t
V
2MIN
- All weights
V
M
C
A
2
h
i
g
h

w
t
Safe for V
2MIN
50
100
150
200
250
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
Bank Angle (deg)
V
M
C
A
2

(
K
C
A
S
)
Vmca light
Vmca heavy
V2 light
V2 heavy
X
X
X
X
V
M
C
A
2
l
o
w

w
e
i
g
h
t
V
2MIN
- All weights
V
M
C
A
2
h
i
g
h

w
t
Safe for V
2MIN
Figure 20. Effect of Bank Angle on VMCA and V2, Two Engines
Inoperative, Maximum Continuous Takeoff Thrust.
V
2
is only a safe takeoff speed as long as all engines are pro-
viding equal (symmetrical) thrust and, following the failure of an
engine, only as long as a bank angle of 5 degrees (or a number of
degrees as opted by the applicant and used to determine V
MCA
) is
maintained away from the inoperative engine. This banking
requirement is regrettably listed neither with V
2
nor with V
MCA

in most flight manuals. On the contrary, some flight manuals
even allow and some departure procedures require a danger-
ous 15 degrees of bank to either side while the airspeed is as low
as V
2
.
Appropriate crew response to propulsion system malfunction
remains of utmost importance for takeoff and go-around accident
prevention. The use of takeoff safety speed V
2
alone warrants
no safety if an engine fails during initial climb.

7. IMPERFECTIONS AND DEFICIENCIES IN AVIA-
TION REGULATIONS
After the thorough review of almost everything there is to
know about V
MCA
and V
2
, a few paragraphs of FAR/ CS 23 and
25 were reviewed for correct definitions and wording as the next
step in preventing accidents after engine failure. Many organiza-
tions, authors of flight manuals and textbooks, but also pilots and
many more aviation personnel use these regulations and copy
parts of them into their products. Of course, regulations are for
publishing certification requirements, but their contents should
be unambiguous, whether for certification, for operational use or
for background information purposes.
The remarks and comments of the reviewed FAR and CS pa-
ragraphs are presented in a separate paper: Imperfections and
Deficiencies in FAA/ FAR and EASA/ CS 23 & 25 that might
lead to Accidents after Engine Failure [13].

8. IMPERFECTIONS ON VMCA IN MANUALS AND
TEXTBOOKS
Multi-engine rated pilots know V
MCA
from flight manuals and
textbooks in which most probably either one of the following
definitions of V
MC
/ V
MCA
is given:
1. 'Air minimum control speed is the minimum flight speed at
which the airplane is controllable with a bank angle of not
more than 5 degrees when one engine suddenly becomes
inoperative and the remaining engine is operating at takeoff
power'; or
2. 'V
MCA
is the airspeed at which, with the airplane airborne
and maximum takeoff power on the engines, when the criti-
cal engine is suddenly made inoperative, it is possible to re-
cover control of the airplane and maintain straight flight
with an angle of bank of not more than 5 degrees.', or;
3. 'V
MC
is the minimum airspeed at which control can be
maintained with the critical engine inoperative and the re-
maining engine operating at full power.'
These definitions are copied straight from the regulatory para-
graphs ( 23.149 or 25.149) presented in [8], [10] or [13], or
are an interpretation thereof by the textbook or manual writer,
but these paragraphs are intended for designing (sizing) the
vertical tail of the airplane, not for use by the airline pilot. If
pilots would interpret V
MCA
from only these definitions, they
might after engine failure and with the thrust setting of the
remaining engine(s) high certainly try to keep the bank angle
to either side within 5 degrees, which is approximately wings
level. They also might think that the airplane is controllable at
V
MCA
. However, as was explained in 3.1 of this paper, a bank
angle change of 10 degrees at a speed as low as the listed V
MCA

can be catastrophic. On some airplanes, the actual V
MCA
in-
creases 60 knots by doing so; returning to the original heading
might not be possible. V
MCA
is only for maintaining straight
flight after engine failure. The unexpected increase of actual
V
MCA
during maneuvering will be the real cause of many air-
plane crashes during takeoff after engine failure or during subse-
quent flight while an engine is inoperative.
The second and third definition above might also suggest that
it is not a problem when a non-critical engine fails. During
flight-testing, the critical engine is made inoperative because this
provides the highest and most unsafe V
MCA
. The worst cases of
many other variable factors that influence V
MCA
are used during
testing but are not listed. So the word critical with engine
should not be used in flight manuals either. The listed V
MCA

applies after failure of any of the engines and for all values of the
other variables that influence V
MCA
. More comments on these
definitions are presented in [13].
8.1. Flight manuals
Most airplane manufacturers present V
MCA
in their flight ma-
nuals as a single speed or as a speed that depends only on am-
bient temperature, flap setting and pressure altitude. They re-
grettably do not explain that V
MCA
was determined using a 3
5 bank angle away from the failed engine and that V
MCA

changes considerably with bank angle to some higher actual
value. Furthermore, they do not issue a warning for the potential
hazardous consequences of maneuvering at airspeeds near or
below V
MCA
while an engine is inoperative and the thrust setting
on the operating engine(s) is high. The same applies to many
multi-engine flight crew training programs, including simulator
training. Not stating the bank angle that was used to determine
V
MCA
and therewith takeoff safety speed V
2
, is definitely a very
dangerous omission and has led and will lead again to misun-
derstanding of V
MCA
as well as V
2
and consequently to accidents
due to loss of control immediately following the failure of an
engine or during the flight following the engine failure, while
returning to base ( 3.1).
Manufacturers are therefore encouraged to add written warn-
ings to V
MCA
and V
2
data in their flight manuals telling pilots
that the V
MCA
and V
2
data presented in the manuals are only
valid as long as a bank angle is maintained away from the in-
operative engine. This bank angle is the same bank angle as was
used for sizing the vertical tail and during flight-testing to de-
termine V
MCA
(3 5 away from the inoperative engine) and
should be applied while asymmetrical thrust is high and airspeed
is low. Recommended text is presented in 8.3.
8.2. Textbooks and training manuals
Below, a number of imperfect and deficient lines are quoted
from a few textbooks and training manuals. It is irrelevant for
the purpose of this paper to list the sources; it merely supports
the conclusion that many authors do not understand V
MCA
.
Seen in a training manual of a 4-engine turbofan airplane:
'At low weights, lift off/ take-off speed is close to V
MCA
. Limit
bank to 15 max.'
It is indeed correct that at low weights lift off/ takeoff speed
is close to V
MCA
(within 10%), but banking 15 into an in-
operative engine at this low speed increases actual V
MCA

considerably, up to 60 knots! Control of the airplane will
be lost and the flight will end in calamity if the other va-
riables that have influence on V
MCA
happen to be at their
worst-case value ( 3.1).
'At higher weight, smaller control wheel deflections are required
and very small bank angles are required to maintain heading.'
Why is this 'higher' weight mentioned? Is this a reference
to the effect of bank angle and weight on V
MCA
? (Wsin ,
3.1) The author obviously is aware of the effect of weight
on V
MCA
, but does not say it. Why does the writer say
'angles' (plural) and not 'small angle away from the failed
engine'?
'With one engine out: use full rudder and wings level.'
By recommending wings level, the writer accepts a drag pe-
nalty and a 10 30 kt higher actual V
MCA
( 2.2.1, 3.1).
'With two engines out: 3 bank required to maintain heading.'
Seems good point, but the bank is not only required to
maintain heading, but for keeping actual V
MCA
and the drag
as low as possible. It is not specified into which direction
the bank should be.
'During IFR conditions & engine out: apply aileron to level
wings, then smoothly rudder in same direction.'
What to do if not IFR/ IMC?
Rudder is the only aerodynamic control available to counte-
ract the thrust yawing moment and should be applied first
(this will also roll the airplane), then ailerons are required to
bank the manufacturer-opted bank angle (3 to 5) away
from the inoperative engine. Applying ailerons first might
delay reducing the sideslip angle and deploy spoilers, in-
creasing drag and reducing climb performance. To recog-
nize an engine failure early, a turn needle (yaw rate indica-
tor) might be of great help, but people who might have for-
gotten V
MCA
took this indication off the electronic displays
on many airplanes.
'V
MCA
is the minimum airspeed at which the airplane may be
controlled in roll along the longitudinal axis with the critical
engine failed, full thrust on the operating engines, and a maxi-
mum 5 degree bank toward the operating engine.'
The writer got confused about the effect of an inoperative
engine. V
MCA
is for directional/ heading control except for
airplanes on which propellers provide very high propulsive
lift. Then V
MCA
might refer to a lateral or aileron limited
minimum control speed. The remaining roll authority at
V
MCA
on civil airplanes is never tested nor documented and
may therefore not be counted on. If roll inputs are made at
V
MCA
, control might very well be lost right away. V
MCA
is
the lower speed limit for maintaining straight flight, not for
any controlling, neither in roll, nor in yaw. This definition
is dangerously wrong! Refer to 3.1.
'At V
2MIN
, the stall warning (after engine failure) occurs at about
35 bank angle whatever the configuration.'
V
2MIN
is normally the greater of 1.1 V
MCA
and 1.08 or
1.13 V
S
(FAR/ CS 25.107). Can this airplane then safely
use bank angles at V
2MIN
with one engine inoperative up to
35 without any increment to V
MCA
and therewith to V
2MIN
?
No, definitely not. This simply cannot be true by physics
and aerodynamics laws. A truly dangerous statement made
by somebody who does not understand asymmetrical flight
( 6). (V
S
at = 35 is 1.1 V
S
at = 0).
At V
2MIN
(1.1 V
MCA
if the gross weight is low) the air-
plane might already become uncontrollable if the wings are
about level ( 3.1).
'The speed increment values against V
2MIN
required by the JAR-
OPS for bank angles at takeoff exceeding 15 are very conserva-
tive for [this airplane] and could be penalizing. The manufac-
turer recommends minor speed increments against V
2MIN
: no
speed increment whatever the bank angle up to 30, and a 5 kt
increment at 30 bank angle.'
As was explained many times before in this paper, actual
V
MCA
increases considerably while banking away from the
favorable bank angle of 5 away from the failed engine.
V
2MIN
is normally 10% higher than V
MCA
(at low weights),
but after banking, actual V
MCA
will be much higher than
V
2MIN
which definitely leads to controllability problems at
bank angles up to 30 ( 6). A 5 kt increment at 30 bank
angle will never have to be applied; the control of the air-
plane will already be lost by then.
Authorities should require data on the effect of bank angle
on V
MCA
before approving speed increments.
8.3. Recommended text on VMCA in flight manuals,
training manuals and in textbooks
The following text, cautions and notes should be included in
textbooks and in flight manuals of multi-engine airplanes in the
operation and limitation sections and/ or in the sections that
discuss engine failure. For a Part 25 airplane, V
MCL
should be
included in addition to V
MCA
in the paragraphs below.
V
MCA
is the minimum speed for maintaining straight (equi-
librium) flight after failure of any one of the engines and is
valid only as long as the bank angle is 3 5 (as specified
by the manufacturer) away from the inoperative engine.
V
MCA
is definitely not a minimum speed for controllability
during turns.
Bank angle has a very powerful effect on V
MCA
: actual
V
MCA
will increase considerably when the bank angle is not
the specified 3 5 away from the inoperative engine, for
instance if the wings are kept level or if the bank angle is
into the inoperative engine(s) during a turn. Therefore, if
rudder and/or aileron deflection are (near) maximum, the
airspeed is close to actual V
MCA
; if this is the case, never
ever bank away from the specified bank angle and turn into
the dead engine! A small increase of bank angle is in most
cases less dangerous. A shallow 270 turn at low speed into
the live engine is much safer than a 90 turn into the dead
engine. V
MCA
is not only the lower speed limit for takeoff,
but also for the remainder of the flight. If flaps are selected
up, actual V
MCA
might increase and control might be lost
even after surviving the engine failure itself.
In general, V
MCA
is the minimum speed to be observed all
the time, even before an engine fails. If the thrust setting is
high and the airspeed is lower than V
MCA
at the instant an
engine fails, control might very well be lost right away.
For determining V
MCA
, worst case conditions of all factors
that have influence on the value of V
MCA
were used, al-
though separate charts might be presented for several tem-
peratures, altitudes, flap settings and ground effect.
It may be required to reduce thrust of the opposite operating
engine to recover from an engine failure or to restore and
maintain directional control. Some modern types of air-
plane have a system that reduces the thrust of the opposite
engine automatically to reduce the asymmetrical thrust
moment and therewith decrease actual V
MCA
as well.
Decrease the propeller drag by feathering the propeller im-
mediately after engine failure (if not automatic) and there-
with reducing the asymmetrical thrust moment. If feather-
ing is not possible while the engine is running, then do not
leave that engine idling as a possible back-up thrust source.
If the airspeed is below V
MCA
(with or without an inopera-
tive engine) and a go-around might become necessary, first
accelerate to an airspeed higher than V
MCA
before applying
maximum available takeoff thrust on the remaining engines
while banking 5 away from the inoperative engine. On a 4
or more engine airplane, accelerate to V
MCA2
first if any one
of the engines is already inoperative in anticipation of the
failure of another engine. An alternative and safe procedure
is to accelerate down the glide slope, exchanging altitude
for airspeed while applying go-around thrust to the symme-
trical operating engines only and adding as much asymme-
trical thrust as possible to just maintain control, while bank-
ing the specified number of degrees (or 5) away from the
inoperative engines.
If an engine failure has taken place en-route, consider trans-
ferring as much fuel as approved into the good engine side
to decrease the asymmetrical thrust moment and move as
much cargo and/ or passengers forward as possible to in-
crease the rudder moment arm and therewith decrease ac-
tual V
MCA
for the case that a go-around at the destination
might become necessary. Also, verify that a go-around
with asymmetrical thrust at the destination will be feasible
since go-around and turning performance (at low speed) af-
ter engine failure are considerably impaired. The airplane
might just be committed to land.
Before landing with an inoperative engine, set the trims to
their normal position and use controls to counteract the
asymmetrical yawing and rolling moments. These mo-
ments will change while varying the thrust on the glide
slope. On 4 or more engine airplanes, the use of symme-
trical thrust only could be considered. The engine opposite
of the failed engine could be set to the zero thrust setting to
cancel asymmetrical thrust, but keep the engine thrust readi-
ly available.

9. TRAINING AND DEMONSTRATION OF VMCA
Accidents due to engine failure continue to happen, so training
to be prepared to handle engine failures is of utmost importance.
An engine failure during takeoff always happens unexpectedly
which should be taken into account during engine failure train-
ing. Much engine failure related training can be done in simula-
tors, provided these are modeled to simulate the real thing as
closely as possible. The ultimate engine-out training can only be
performed in the air in a multi-engine airplane.
After the first version of this paper [3] was finished, the author
got the opportunity to attend a 3-hour detail in the simulator of a
big 4-engine airplane. After the planned training session was
finished, a few engine failure test points were flown at the re-
quest of the author of this paper to be able to confirm some of
the statements in this paper. The unexpected result of this little
test was that the aileron deflection required for straight flight
after failure of engine #4 was the same as for failure of engine
#1, which of course should be opposite! This simulator was
definitely not modeled correctly for engine-out training after
failure of engine #4, only for training with engine #1 inoperative.
This occasional test result came by surprise; the simulator in-
structors had never noticed this. They adduced that the simulator
was FAA approved. It is unknown whether there was a require-
ment for this simulator to be used for engine-out training after
failure of engine #4. It could very well be that in this simulator
never a failure of any other engine than the critical engine (#1)
was or had to be simulated during training sessions.
The result of this little test also adds to the point that the train-
ing program itself, the syllabus, the simulator and any changes to
either the simulator hardware or software should be properly
verified and approved by (experimental) flight-test experts in
order to avoid training for which the simulator is not (correctly)
modeled. For this simulator, somewhere should have been stated
not to simulate engine failures on the right wing!
Demonstration of V
MCA
in flight should be performed with a
low gross weight airplane, for instance as the last exercise during
a training flight. A low weight as well as an aft center of gravity
(within the approved envelope) will cause the actual V
MCA
to be
as close to the listed V
MCA
as possible. Start with a trim shot,
about 20 knots above the listed V
MCA
. Then reduce thrust of
anyone of the engines to the so-called zero thrust setting. This is
a certain thrust or power (torque) level to match the drag of (the
propeller of) a failing engine. The airplane manufacturer can
provide this zero power/ thrust setting. An idling propeller
generates much drag, which adds to the asymmetric thrust yaw-
ing moments, which in turn leads to a higher actual V
MCA
than
the V
MCA
listed in the flight manual. With the zero thrust level
set on the simulated inoperative engine using the throttle, the
asymmetrical thrust moment is realistic as will be the observed
V
MCA
(provided the center of gravity is aft and gross weight is
low). The procedure for demonstrating or training V
MCA
can be
the same as used for determining V
MCA
. Refer to 4 for the
procedure to demonstrate both dynamic and static V
MCA
, the
latter with both wings level and with a small 5 bank angle into
the operating engine. It is strongly recommended to demonstrate
both the influence of bank angle as well as the effect of reducing
asymmetrical thrust on V
MCA
to achieve an improved apprecia-
tion of the minimum control speed.
Keep in mind that thrust decreases with increasing altitude and
that V
MCA
will decrease as well.
If V
MCA
decreases below V
S
, the airplane during training (at
altitude) might be controllable down to the stall.
A real sudden engine shutdown should be part of the training
as well. As a reaction to engine failure, normally all throttles
have to be moved forward and not only the throttles of the live
engine(s) ( 23.149 & 25.149 (b)). Only after a 'real' engine
failure, the student pilot will get a feeling of the dynamics in-
volved and will have to perform the standard emergency proce-
dure and recover to and maintain straight flight.
9.1. Cautions for training and demo
A number of warnings and cautions for training and demon-
stration of V
MCA
are listed below.
If the airspeed is close to V
MCA
, the sudden reduction of thrust
on one wing generates both a yaw (heading change), and on
propeller airplanes also a rapid roll due to the imbalance of
propulsive lift. The pilot must react fast with rudder and roll
inputs to prevent excessive yawing and adverse bank angle from
building-up. Any improper control input can result in an imme-
diate loss of control of the airplane. Allowing a sideslip to build-
up will increase drag and loss of airspeed, leading to big trouble.
Keep in mind that it is very dangerous to fly an airplane at low
altitude and low airspeed while one engine is, or more engines
are, inoperative. A catastrophic accident is to be expected while
maneuvering at an airspeed that is close to the actual V
MCA
or to
the actual stall speed, and also in the event that another engine
fails.
High risks are taken if the fuel supply is suddenly cut in ta-
keoff; it is a very dangerous practice. Instructors who do this are
jeopardizing safety.
One engine inoperative go-around training should initially be
performed at an altitude of at least 5,000 ft AGL. An actual
engine-out go-around could then be practiced provided it is made
sure that a bank angle of a few degrees into the good engine is
applied as thrust or power is increased. Consider also rendering
another engine inoperative than the critical engine, for training
purposes. Every inoperative wing engine causes an asymmetric-
al thrust moment and has its own actual V
MCA
that is equal to or
lower safer than the listed V
MCA
. Also, keep in mind that the
go-around speed of a 4-engine airplane with one engine inopera-
tive is V
MCA2
, which is much higher than V
MCA1
.
If rudder and/or aileron deflections are (near) maximum for
maintaining equilibrium flight, the airspeed is very close to the
actual V
MCA
; then maintain, and do not bank away from, the
favorable 3 to 5 into the good engine.
During training or demonstrations, the instructor should be
prepared to immediately reduce asymmetrical thrust or power by
closing the opposite throttle(s) if the attitude of the airplane
changes unexpectedly. Do not release the rudder if initial buffet
is encountered. This will cause the sideslip to increase rapidly
with a resulting roll into the idling engine. A combination of
high angle of attack and sideslip can produce a spin. Also, be
prepared for the case that another engine fails.
The airplane might stall before reaching V
MCA
. Consider
switching the rudder boost off, which will increase actual V
MCA

or on 4 or more engine airplanes shut down the other engine
on the same wing too to be able to demonstrate V
MCA2
.
It is strongly recommended to review 3 in which most varia-
ble factors that have influence on V
MCA
are discussed, before
training or demonstrating V
MCA
.

10. CONCLUSIONS
Many papers and reports, including accident investigation re-
ports, were written on airplane control after engine failure but
still, accidents continue to happen. This was reason for Avio-
Consult to review accident reports, formal multi-engine airplane
flight manuals, textbooks and aviation regulations on the subject
of controllability while flying on asymmetrical thrust. As a
result, many imperfections and even deficiencies were found.
Consequently, by reading (only) these imperfect documents,
pilots, instructors, tutors, writers, etc. receive an incomplete and
hence incorrect comprehension of V
MCA
, which definitely must
have contributed to many engine failure related accidents in the
past.
In the Executive Summary on page v and throughout this pa-
per, many conclusions were already presented; these will not be
repeated here.
The most important conclusion is that the value of V
MCA
that
is listed in flight manuals and that is used by pilots of multi-
engine airplanes is in reality, that is during the actual flight
with an inoperative engine, not a constant number as the
manuals might suggest and pilots assume it is, but that actual
V
MCA
varies considerably with bank angle and power setting.
The standardized V
MCA
that is listed in flight manuals is deter-
mined while maintaining straight flight using the worst case of
many variable factors that have influence on V
MCA
nd a small
3 to 5 bank angle away from the inoperative engine, at the
option of the applicant (the manufacturer), and while the power
setting is maximum available takeoff. Actual V
MCA
might in-
crease more than 60 knots above the listed V
MCA
if the bank
angle is not maintained at the opted number of degrees away
from the inoperative engine, which might lead to an uncontrolla-
ble airplane and consequently to a calamity. The influence of
bank angle on V
MCA
is not made clear in flight manuals (may be
except for a very few), aviation regulations and most textbooks,
etc. ( 3, 4).
The V
MCA
listed in flight manuals is a minimum control speed
for maintaining straight flight only, certainly not for maneuver-
ing and is only valid as long as the same small bank angle that
was used to determine V
MCA
is indeed applied.
Takeoff safety speed V
2
is used on Part 25 airplanes. It is
supposed to provide safety during takeoff, even after engine
failure. V
2
is calculated during preflight (or by the on-board
computers) using V
MCA
and stall speed V
S
, and is normally the
greater of 1.1 V
MCA
and 1.08 to 1.13 V
S
(FAR/ CS 25.107).
In 6 an example was given where actual V
MCA
at high takeoff
gross weight increased with 71 kt to 190 kt, which is 60% above
the preflight calculated V
2
(119 kt) after banking only 5 degrees
into the failed engine. If the pilot would attempt to maintain
equilibrium flight with this bank angle, the airplane would run
out of control and crash. The V
2
listed in flight manuals is not a
safe takeoff speed after engine failure, unless the same bank
angle is applied that was used to determine V
MCA
(which is a
bank angle between 3 and 5 away from the inoperative engine
at the option of the applicant, the manufacturer of the airplane)
and straight flight is maintained as well. 'Unfortunately', no
requirement exists to list this required bank angle with V
MCA
or
with V
2
in flight manuals.
Modern avionics provide the pilots with many warnings, cau-
tions and alerts if operating limitations are approached. But the
most important speed limitation that even becomes life threaten-
ing after engine failure is not included in the warning systems.
Pilots are not alerted of approaching the actual air minimum
control speed V
MCA
(or the actual takeoff safety speed V
2
) yet,
while all of the data that is required to calculate an actual air
minimum control speed is available in the on-board computers.
Advices on safe bank angles for the actual airspeed are not pre-
sented.
Turn-rate indication is not presented anymore on many mod-
ern electronic cockpit displays. The slower moving heading
scale has to be used for detecting the yaw rate caused by engine
failure, which delays the early detection of a propulsion system
malfunction and increases the reaction time of the flight crew (if
under Instrument Meteorological Conditions), which might lead
to recovery problems.
Additional flight-testing will be required to acquire data of the
effect of bank angle and weight on minimum control speeds of
individual airplane types in order to be able to continuously
calculate and display the actual air minimum control speed V
MCA

and takeoff safety speed V
2
in-flight. This will cost money, but
might save lives and avoid lawsuits in the future too.

11. RECOMMENDATIONS
Several recommendations were already presented in the fol-
lowing paragraphs:
5, for an improved engine emergency procedure;
7, for improved aviation regulations FAR and CS;
8, for improved texts describing V
MCA
and V
2
in airplane
flight manuals and textbooks;
9, for improved training and demonstration of V
MCA
.

On the title page of this paper, the question was asked 'How
to prevent a dead engine from turning into a killing engine'.
This paper presents a number of answers. Accidents due to
engine failure can be prevented by:
implementing the recommendations presented in the para-
graphs listed above;
presenting this paper to all multi-engine rated pilots and
student pilots, to regulatory authorities, to airplane accident
investigators, to flight manual and textbook writers, to si-
mulator companies and instructors, and to everyone else in-
volved in multi-engine airplane operations. Then everyone
will know and understand that the most important control
inputs after engine failure are the rudder to return to and
maintain straight flight and (simultaneously) ailerons to
bank 3 5 (as determined by the manufacturer) away
from the inoperative engine, which decrease the actual
V
MCA
and V
2
to the safe preflight calculated values and the-
rewith increase the safety margin to the indicated airspeed
considerably;
appropriately including the most important conditions of the
formal flight-test techniques used to determine V
MCA
into
the applicable FAR/ CS 23 and 25 paragraphs/ sections, in
airplane flight manuals, in airplane operating manuals, in
textbooks, test descriptions, simulator specifications, train-
ing requirements, etc., etc. The flight-test techniques are
readily available in Flight Test Guides of FAA and EASA
and in military specifications, but were for inexplicable rea-
sons never used to improve the regulations, manuals, etc.
used by airline pilots ( 8.3).
Below, a shortlist of actions that are absolutely required for
improving takeoff safety is presented. Actions should include,
but not be limited to:
include in FAR/ CS 23 and 25 the requirement for testing
the effect of bank angle on V
MCA
prior to and during certifi-
cation and add these data to flight manuals to convince pi-
lots of the fact that a small bank angle has great effect on
V
MCA
and V
2
. Consider also to require data on the differ-
ences in V
MCA
with forward center of gravity and with fail-
ure of the engine opposite of the critical engine. Properly
informing pilots about these effects might help prevent fatal
accidents while an engine is inoperative ( 3.1, 6);
review all of the not included FAR/ CS definitions and oth-
er paragraphs in FAR/ CS 23 and 25 in this paper on the
subject of thrust asymmetry and improve these by at least
using the recommendations presented in 7;
review and if necessary revise flight and operating manual
texts on V
MCA
, V
2
, its definitions as well as numbers, charts
and legends ( 8);
review and if necessary rewrite textbooks on V
MCA
( 8.2
and 8.3);
review and if necessary rewrite flight crew training text-
books ( 9);
review and if necessary rewrite engine failure training pro-
cedures ( 9);
review and if necessary rewrite simulator training syllabi
for engine failures and for simulated flight with an inopera-
tive engine ( 9);
to increase pilot awareness and therewith reduce accidents
when an engine is inoperative, implement bank angle and
rudder advisories to electronic displays using on-board dy-
namically calculated actual takeoff data and add warnings
and alerts for approaching actual V
MCA
and/ or actual V
2

similar to the existing V
S
warnings and alerts (Ask Avio-
Consult);
review operational requirements for departure procedures
for reduced turn capability after failure of left and right en-
gines at low speed;
to 'expedite' the detection of a malfunctioning propulsion
system, yaw-rate indication should be made available again.
Although not reviewed and discussed in this paper, it might
have become obvious that the following actions are strongly
recommended as well in order to improve aviation safety:
review and if necessary rewrite airplane accident investiga-
tion methods and techniques using the facts presented in
this paper;
review and if necessary rewrite multi-engine rating exams,
test rides and proficiency programs and sequences;
review and if necessary modify spoiler assisted roll control
during takeoff on spoiler equipped airplanes and flight con-
trol systems on fly-by-wire jets;
rewrite the flight safety audit checklist, etc., etc.

REFERENCES
[1] Flight Safety Foundation. Propulsion System Malfunc-
tion plus Inappropriate Crew Response (PSM+ICR),
Flight Safety Digest, November December 1999. Via
Internet: http://www.flightsafety.org/fsd_home.html
[2] FAA package on CD-ROM: Turboprop Engine Malfunc-
tion Recognition and Response. A combined effort by
the Air Transport Association (ATA) and the Flight
Standards Division of the FAA, the CAA, ALPA, and
several turboprop airplane and engine manufacturers
(GEAE), operators and AvioConsult. FAA Engine &
Propeller Directorate, ANE-110, 12 New England Ex-
ecutive Park, Burlington, MA 01803, USA.
[3] Horlings, Harry. Flying safely with a dead engine,
RNLAF Flight Safety Magazine, Nov. 1999, in the
Dutch language. http://www.avioconsult.com
[4] USAF Test Pilot School. Stability and Control, Chapter
8, Engine-Out Operation, Edwards Air Force Base, CA.
[5] Bradley, Edward N. Procedures and analysis techniques
for determining static air minimum control speeds, Air
Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB, CA, USA.
[6] Advisory Circular 23-8B. Flight Test Guide. FAA.
Via Internet: http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/
[7] Advisory Circular 25-7A. Flight Test Guide. FAA.
[8] Certification Specifications (CS) 23 and 25 (CS 23 in-
cluding flight test guide). European Aviation Safety
Agency. Via Internet:
http://www.easa.eu.int/home/certspecs_en.html
[9] USAF Test Pilot School. Failure State Testing, Chapter
32. Edwards Air Force Base, CA, USA.
[10] Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) 23 and 25.
[11] Military Specification MIL-F-8785C, superseded by
MIL-STD-1797. Flying Qualities of Piloted Airplanes.
[12] Horlings, Harry. The Effect of Bank Angle and Weight
on the Minimum Control Speed V
MCA
of an Engine-out
Airplane. http://www.avioconsult.com
[13] Horlings, Harry. Imperfections and Deficiencies in FAA/
FAR and EASA/ CS 23 & 25 that might lead to Accidents
after Engine Failure. Via Internet:
http://www.avioconsult.com

Airplane Control After Engine Failure

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Airplane Control after Engine Failure

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