Can a person be sucked in the engine of a Boeing when the engines are running idle?

Question

Often, when there is a push-back, there is a person walking next to the push-back-car. And during this push-back, the engines of the plane are switched on, I think to idle thrust. So, when push-back is finished, and the engines run on idle, can the person (which actually stands next to the plane even when the push-back-car is gone) be sucked in the engines?

Or is it possible to be sucked in at the same distance if engines would be at maximum thrust?

Answer 1

It's theoretically possible, but extremely unlikely, and as the people before me said, you would have to be ridiculously close. The fact is that idling engines don't produce near enough thrust to suck you off your feet and into the engine. An engine at takeoff thrust is a different story....

Answer 2

At idle, one would need to be quite close to the intake(s); say 4 feet or closer.  Couldn't say for max thrust.

It's happened in the F4 community; but I've personally never seen it.  There is some video of this happening with an A6 on a carrier launch.

He survived, with broken bones, a concussion, and punctured eardrum.

Answer 3

It is possible, but you would need to be standing very close to the intake at idle.

The higher the engine speed, the further away you can be and still get sucked into the intake.

I spent 24 years in the USAF.  Although it never happened at any base I was at, we would occasionally get reports of this happening at different bases, about every couple of years. Nearly every time this happened, it was fatal.

Answer 4

it is definitely possible, but the engine cowlings are thick enough, and the engines, though slung under the wings, are high enough off the ground that it is very unlikely that it would happen. it has happened on carrier decks though, fortunately not often enough to be a problem.

Answer 5

yes you can because the pull from the engines

Answer 6

at low thrust/idle, it won't do much, u have to be like sitting in the crowling, and also what engine it is, a ge90 might suck you in, were a PW600, maybe a small kid, not even that, at full thrust, i will say 10-30 ft, depends on size, this vid can be a refrence, cf6, and medium/large engine, full thrust

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waDeveWle...