Do you level off at 1500' only as long as the engine is secure of regardless?
I knew that question was coming, because I have asked that same question many times to line captains and instructors, getting two very different answers. This is a little bit off from the original post's subject, but what the hell.
My airline procedures don't mention anything about when to level off, so I have to rely only in FCOM and FCTM guidance, and the FCTM states that (Normal Operations, Pre Start, Takeoff Briefing)
"In case of failure after V1:
Continue TO, no actions before 400' AGL except gear up
Reaching 400' AGL, ECAM Actions
Reaching EO ACC altitude
- If the engine is secured, level off, accelerate and clean up
- Otherwise continue climbing until the engine is secured (
but not above EO maximum acceleration altitude)"
Then, it says (Abnormal Operations, Operating Techniques, Engine Failure After V1):
"The engine out maximum acceleration altitude corresponds to the maximum altitude that can be achieved with one engine out and the other engine(s) operating at takeoff thrust for a maximum of 10 minutes)"
So, given those two pieces of text, what I think everyone should do is secure the engine first, and then proceed to level off, only if above the EO AA, that for my airline is 1500' AFE, making sure you don't exceed 10 min with TOGA Thrust (that's why you start the chrono at the beginning of every takeoff roll).