Ovation
I'm not sure that you are correct when you state that the first engine failed before the aircraft was over water and I don't have either Mr Deacon's article or the ATSB report in front of me at the moment.
I understand that one engine may have had a developing problem that caused the engine to fail when the pilot carried out the Phase 1 actions after the other engine had a catastrophic failure. The developing problem may not have been detectable during the flight, and don't forget that Mr Deacon is speculating when he suggests that the pilot had a vibration and operated the engine(s) at a reduced power setting.
On a more general note, it should be remembered that a lot of what Mr Deacon recommends, regarding the operation of large capacity piston engines at lean of peak, is based on having an aircraft equipped with very accurate EGT gauges and, in the case of his own aircraft, a set of fuel injectors that are calibrated for the specific aircraft. He is not recommending that we all go out and aggressively lean based on some of the standard aircraft gauges.
I certainly agree with some of the commentators that there is a need to resolve the issues raised by this crash. There are still a lot of large capacity piston engined aircraft in Australia, ageing rapidly, and a better understanding of how these aircraft should be managed might go a long way to assuring those of us who fly them that they are not going to go quiet on us.