Originally Posted by
matt_hooks
With all due respect moggiee, we can ALL have 20/20 (sorry, 6/6) hindsight, but you weren't there on the flightdeck dealing with the emergency.
I'm sure anyone who knows anything about flying knows about Kegworth, and yes, there WERE clues, but the crew were dealing with the situation in a pressured environment and missed them.
They're human, humans make mistakes sometimes!
The design of the cockpit instrumentation iirc was found to have contributed to the accident also.
It was one of those tragic cases where all the holes lined up. For sure we should look at it, and try to learn lessons from it, but to sit there and judge the actions of the flight crew is non-productive and downright disrespectful!
</rant>
To address your points:
I HAVE been there - one night I had a tyre explode in a wheel well, causing a double engine failure (4 jet airliner), loss of 50% of our fuel, failure of the LH hydraulics and structural damage to the fuselage etc. - a MORE pressurised and complex situation than the BMA crew had to deal with. We got it right because we took our time and got the diagnosis right first time.
The Kegworth environment was doubly pressurised because the Captain took control from the FO (changing crew roles at a critical time) and disconnected the autopilot - dramatically increasing his own workload. This meant that he was so overloaded that, by his own admission, he was unable to determine the nature of the failure - thus leaving the diagnosis to the FO. Sadly, the FO was wrong but the Captain had turned the two crew aeroplane into a single crew one and removed the cross-check that is the cornerstone of multi-crew procedures.
The cockpit instrumentation was poorly designed - but there were at least 4 separate indications of engine problems on the LH motor, surely enough for most people? Enough, at least, if you actually take the time to look at them.
In addition to the above, the Captain did not make full use of the cabin crew - in fact he actively discourage the cabin crew from passing the vital info (I know one of the stewardesses on that flight, that piece of info came first hand!). Again, from personal experience I have found that on at least two occasions, one of my cabin crew has given me the final piece of info required to complete an accurate diagnosis.
As for disgracefully slagging off the crew - apart from the input from the stewardess, ALL of the above was said by the AAIB.
Yes the "holes lined up" - but speaking from PERSONAL experience, I know that it is my job to act as safety net when they do so. Not every situation conforms to a nice, neat scenario as practised in the simulator, but that's why pilots and cabin crew are there - to use their experience, knowledge and training to read between the lines and improvise if required.