Can a pair of undies get sucked into the intake of an aeroplane and damage/jam it? or would it just burn up?

Question

Can a pair of undies get sucked into the intake of an aeroplane and damage/jam it? or would it just burn up?

Answer 1

My question would be; what are you doing in the inlet of a jet engine with your panties off. I guess the damage would be proportional to amount of the contents of the panties.

Answer 2

You'd have to be standing REALLY close to get your undies sucked off by a jet engine.  Concur with others, depending on the size of the engine, they would probably get shreaded between the first few compressor stanges and stators.  The bits would bypass the combustion cans and meet the heated exhaust at the turbine.

Answer 3

Jet engines are designed to withstand specific amounts and types of FOD (foreign object debris) damage and still function. A pair of undies wouldn't last long and would not damage the engine.  

Answer 4

I remember throwing your girlfriend's panties on the ramp seeing them go into a 737 intake and nothing happened. I was surprised because those panties were the size of a bed sheet.

Answer 5

It will get stuck in the propeller and burn along with plane

Answer 6

Perhaps if its Victoria's secret with the model in it.

Answer 7

It's never a good idea to take your undies off in front of a jet airplane.

Answer 8

A Jet engine would simply shred and burn a pair of underwear. Of course if you took the smallest engine and the largest pair of underwear it might actually have some impact on the engine, but probably not that much. Part of jet engine testing actually includes  making sure they can handle water and even birds getting sucked in. And a pair of underwear is much easier to deal with than a decent sized bird.

Answer 9

I think it would burn up, but why would you want to take your undies off infront of an airplane? Not such a good idea, eh?

Answer 10

unless your jet engine is tiny, even the smallest, aviation grade jet engines would have no problem -ahem- getting into your undies.

They would be shredded during the compressor stages and any remains would be vaporized in the combustion chamber.

Theoretically, it is possible, that the underwear actually get tangled up around blades and the shaft, but the rotational power of the engine would tear the undies away and very shortly thereafter, shred&burn them.

All aviation jet engines are designed to take a certain amount of FOD damage like what the other answerer said. The largest jet engines can ingest hurricane-quantities of water and still stay lit as demonstrated by the NTSB after a crash of a 747 I think. Most would be able to eat up a small bird and still function. So unless your underwear is made of steel, a jet engine should have on problem gobbling that up.