Ah yes - those good old reliable flight engineers. Edited paragraphs from a Civil Aeronautics Board USA report on fast landing by a L-49 Constellation at Charleston, West Virginia on May 12 1959.
Aircraft landed long on short wet runway. When it was obvious that the Connie wasn't going to stop the captain decided to make a left ground loop and called for full power on No 4 engine.
The flight engineer misunderstood this command and applied power to all four engines. When the aircraft did not respond as the captain wished, he glanced quickly at the control pedestal and, recognising that all throttles were forward, quickly closed throttles one, two, and three. The aircraft then began the left turn but too late to remain within the airport boundaryl One of the 38 passengers and one of the six crew members died in the fire that followed.
Not knocking flight engineers in any way at all, but from my first flight as a military pilot I was taught always to handle my own power levers for take off and landing. Too much risk of confusion otherwise - and the Connie accident proved that.