Plain English Meaning

The engine quits because it is being fed too much fuel for the amount of air entering it. With that mixture, the fire inside the engine cannot keep burning and goes out.

Full Definition

A flameout in a turbine engine caused by an excessively high fuel-to-air ratio, in which there is too much fuel relative to the available air to sustain combustion, causing the flame in the combustion chamber to extinguish.

Context Anchor

Encountered in turbine engine discussions, especially when learning why a jet engine can stop producing power even though fuel is still being supplied.

Derivation

‘Rich’ in engine terminology has long meant a fuel- mixture (more fuel than the ideal with air), and ‘flameout’ describes the flame in a turbine engine going out. Combined, the term names the case where an -fueled mixture is the reason combustion stops.