Hey guys, great to see this turning into a discussion that we can all gain from.
Nice to hear from you Conway - that sounds like a good d (not that landing in acordance with the check list is a "d" - its compulsory). Glad it turned out fine!
Conway's experience illustrates exactly why we shut down and land ASAP for a chip light. Yes, it is annoyingly often that it is just some fuzz, however, on the rare occasion that it isnt, what could it be? The 412 checklist states "engine chip could be result of failure of the following items: starter gen, N1 tacho, N1 gov/ fuel pump, engine oil pump, N2 tacho, blower shaft or torquemeter." So, its an indication that something may be about to disintegrate, or cause an unplanned engine failure. Many of these parts are spinning bl@@dy fast and if they fly apart could damage the other engine, transmissions, drive shafts, fuel tanks or squishy armour (pax). To avoid escalation of a minor situation (OEI in a twin in safe flight) into a catastrophe, we remove the potential danger by shutting down that engine in a planned manor in safe flight. The main thing is, as always with twin ops, we consider the implications of shutting down the engine prior to doing it. Unlike in singles where response often must be immediate to engine probs, the beauty of having two donks is that much of the time you have a choice. So, if on short final, or departure, or winch or any one of many high-power situations, we would leave the suss engine running to provide power to get us to a safe OEI flight regime, and then shut it down.
I am surprised that someone would not remove the danger once in safe flight because the aircraft isnt Cat A. If we couldnt land OEI, then we shouldnt be flying a twin (of course, as with all things, there might be mitigating circumstances like operating beyond PNR to a rig, but that is planned and trained for I immagine - I havent done rigs thus far in my carreer.)
Like a fire indication, a chip light may well be spurious, but, what the hell, I know I can land OEI, not so sure about burning or disintegrating in flight.
As the checklist says "Prior to shutting Down an Engine with a system malfunction, consider implications to Safe Flight".
Keep the discussion going lads and lasses.
oh, and Gags, in answer to your Q, you're right, saving the boss some $$ at the cost of flight safety sould be the furthest thing from a professionals mind, and a professional organisation's culture.