C-54 lands with only 3 turning

[bdk]

From Facebook...

Fayette County EMS

At approximately 12:43 Fayette County Communications / 911 Center received a call from Indianapolis air traffic controlled and advised them of a aircraft that had declared an emergency due to the loss of an engine that was on approach to Connersville Airport. At that time the size of aircraft was unknown.
All Fayette County EMS and Connersville FD assets were dispatched to the airport. Connersville Police Department also responded officers to that location. It was determined that the emergency aircraft was a DC-4 vintage WWII aircraft. Upon arrival of emergency units the aircraft was landing at Connersville.
The aircraft landed safely with no damage or injuries. After everything was settled and the situation was dealt with the flight crew of 3 gave all emergency personnel a tour and answered questions. The aircraft is a flying museum that showcases the Berlin Airlift that occurred after WWII.
We will put more pictures in the comments. Due to the size of the pictures they won’t all load/ post at once

[BK]

It's the Berlin Airlift C-54 (that I saw yesterday in St Louis). They have spares and are preparing to change the engine out.

[Lon Moer]

cropped from their fb post.....

[TAdan]

Nice job getting it down safely. I love that they managed to give the responders a tour too.

[aeroeng]

Flew over my house over the weekend!

[Airlift48]

Yes, the #1 engine is done. Good thing we have 4 known QEC's in SC. Its going to be at least 2,000 miles of driving and 6 or 7 days of work in between to remove one from 44-9144 and truck it up to IN and then swap out the #1.

Just another of life's challenges....we didn't really need at this time.

[BritHarvardDriver]

What were the symptoms that told you it was time to shut her down?

[exhaustgases]

Yeah with the price of gas etc. not a good time to be traveling so far. What is happening with the C-97 Engine change?

[Lon Moer]

I am curious why you can't fly it home on three engines and fix it there ??

[Archer]

Performance issues and the fact that you need to take another engine failure into account. On a four-engined jet you can sometimes get a three-engined ferry permit, but that is based on the fact that you should be able to climb away should another engine fail during take-off. So that needs to have been tested and verified. At light weights and with suitable precautions, ferrying a 747 on three fans is one of those possibilities. A C-54 has most likely never been tested in this configuration, I doubt if it would have the needed rudder authority (it should have of course) to cope with two engines out on one wing and it may not even climb in that configuration. Also, the reliability of jets is just a lot better, so the odds of losing another one are better than on that C-54.

[bdk]

I am curious why you can't fly it home on three engines and fix it there ??

Well, they did declare an emergency when the one engine failed presumably in cruise. To take off in that same emergency condition adds another element of risk when an excess of thrust is required to climb. => (Bigger popcorn)

[Mick G]

I doubt a C54 wouldn't be able to climb out on two, even if same side when the aircraft is empty. Not sure what all the fuss is about.

[Mark Sampson]

With all that these good folks have been through with their various aircraft, I certainly wouldn't blame them for being careful, conservative, and correct. But I speak as a mere ground-pounder.

[phil65]

I doubt a C54 wouldn't be able to climb out on two, even if same side when the aircraft is empty. Not sure what all the fuss is about.

909

Phil

[Lon Moer]

I doubt a C54 wouldn't be able to climb out on two, even if same side when the aircraft is empty. Not sure what all the fuss is about.

909

Phil

Just need to get Larry Kraus to fly it out of there, I'm sure he's dealt with worse situations....