Quora: Why don’t aircraft turn off their engine when waiting near the runway before take-off?

by | Jul 27, 2018

Quora: Why don’t aircraft turn off their engine when waiting near the runway before take-off? I have observed they wait more than 15 mins near the runway when there are more aircraft landing.

An aircraft engine has multiple functions. It is used for generating electricity to power the various systems in an aircraft. It also draws in air that’s needed inside the cabin. If the engines are switched off then the pilot has to turn on the APU or Auxiliary Power Unit — a generator under the tail of the plane. When an aircraft is parked at the gate, it draws its power from the ground power units. It also takes at least 3 – 5 minutes for the APU to power up the engines if these are switched off. That is a lot of time in an over crowded airport like Mumbai — which has only one functional runway.

A more detailed answer here on Quora.

 

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Brian Pereira
Brian Pereira
Brian Pereira is an Indian journalist and editor based in Mumbai. He founded Digital Creed in 2015. A technology buff, former computer instructor, and software developer, Brian has 29 years of journalism experience (since 1994). Brian is the former Editor of CHIP India, InformationWeek India and CISO Mag. He has served India's leading newspaper groups: The Times of India and The Indian Express. Presently, he serves the Information Security Media Group, as Sr. Director, Editorial. You'll find his most current work on CIO Inc. During his career he wrote (and continues to write) 5000+ technology articles. He conducted more than 450 industry interviews. Brian writes on aviation, drones, cybersecurity, tech startups, cloud, data center, AI/ML/Gen AI, IoT, Blockchain etc. He achieved certifications from the EC-Council (Certified Secure Computer User) and from IBM (Basics of Cloud Computing). Apart from those, he has successfully completed many courses on Content Marketing and Business Writing. He recently achieved a Certificate in Cybersecurity (CC) from the international certification body ISC2. Follow Brian on Twitter (@creed_digital) and LinkedIn. Email Brian at: [email protected]
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