Assuming that engine failures are independent of each other, what is the probability that on a certain transcontinental flight, a six-engine plane will experience exactly one engine failure?

The probability that an airplane engine will fail in a transcontinental flight is 0.001.

More than two engine failures?

1 Answer
Vishwaksen Reddy V.
Apr 6, 2017

5.97005994*(10^-3)5.97005994⋅(10−3)

Explanation:

Lets say engine 1 fails and engines 2-6 work properly
the probability is
0.001*(0.999^5)=9.9500999*(10^-4)0.001⋅(0.9995)=9.9500999⋅(10−4)
now the cases are only engine 1 fails or only engine 2 fails and so on, we have 6 cases that are equally likely
so the probability is multiplied by 6
we get 5.97005994*(10^-3)5.97005994⋅(10−3)

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