What modification has been made to engines with very low ground clearance?

• A. They have been redesigned to have wider thrust reversers
• B. They have been reconfigured from narrow nacelles to wide, high bypass fan engine nacelles
• C. They are equipped with shorter inlets
• D. They are moved farther from the ground

Answer: (B)

When an engine sits very close to the ground, the fix is to change its nacelle design to increase the usable clearance and reduce the risk of contact or debris ingestion. Reconfiguring from a narrow nacelle to a wide, high bypass fan nacelle accomplishes this by altering the engine’s external geometry and mounting approach. A wide, high bypass nacelle supports a larger diameter fan and a different nacelle shape, which allows the installation to be redesigned (including the pylon and mounting) to place the engine in a configuration that sits higher or clears obstacles more readily. This approach directly addresses the clearance issue while also offering the efficiency and performance benefits of a high bypass design. The other options don’t meaningfully increase the underside clearance or require impractical structural changes, so they don’t solve the problem as effectively.