A four engine jet is twice as likely to experience an engine failure as a two engine jet. It is just pure mathematical logic and also one of the bases for the introduction of ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operations Performance Standards).
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Give me a choice, and I’d rather be apassenger in a 4 engine get with a single engine failure than a twin engine jet
There’s an old joke about that.
A plane loses an engine. The pilot comes on the PA and assures everything is all right. It’ll just take an extra hour to reach the destination. A man says to his buddy, if we lose that other engine we’ll be up here all night.
EC