self-loving-vampire:

dragon-in-a-fez:

I like making fun of Boeing as much as anyone but this just sounds like how planes work

I think this might be getting at something concrete depending on the specifics of what it means to say.

Planes can still glide for a while without fuel. This has allowed for a few safe landings of planes that had no fuel left.

What this implies given that information is that they may not be equipped to fail that gracefully, meaning that otherwise salvageable situations are lacking the proper failsafes. Like, do they mean the plane just sinks to the ground faster rather than gliding?