deadstick landing

Meanings

1. A forced landing without propulsion of an aircraft that normally operates with propulsion.

Etymology

This term does not come from a reference to an aircraft's stick (“control stick”); rather, the stick in this term is, originally, a wooden propeller that has lost its engine power (from circa World War I). The term was extended to any aircraft (even jets) by an obvious extension of the metaphor. This term also does not involve the same metaphor as stick the landing (which see for more), although in some light aircraft, in some conditions, a highly skilled pilot might potentially stick the landing even if it is a deadstick landing.