All this gliding dead-stick stuff is great for the bar, but as likely to happen as a pay rise/pension plan in a LoCo.
Must disagree on that point. An engine failure right on V1 could be said to be great for the bar, but as likely to happen as a pay rise plan etc etc. Same with a high dive depress from 40,000 ft. Same with loss of both gens simultaneously due to lighting strike. Same with an all flaps up landing on a limited length runway. Where do you want to stop?
We practice volcanic ash events where loss of both engines occurs. But always magically in the sim we get one engine going to save the day. I have never seen failure not to get one engine going in the sim which would logically lead to a forced landing like the Gimli glider and other examples of successful dead stick landings in transport jets.
What we do see in the simulator where I work, is the inevitable lack of basic flying skill displayed by even the most experienced pilots when confronted with a loss of all engines at 20,000 ft because they flew into a super size 63,000 ft storm and drowned both engines and couldn't get a restart. Never happens, you say? Try reading the Garuda 737 report where they finished up dead stick flapless ditching in a river. Sully did a good job too after losing both engines to bird strikes.
What I have seen in the simulator is not necessarily the direct fault of the captain when he crashes trying to dead stick. It is more the training department who do the ostrich head in the sand trick and think to themselves why practice something which is great for the bar, but as likely to happen as a pay plan pension etc etc?
Pilots spend hours in the simulator practicing ILS which they do every day of their career in real time. By then they know every facet of how to fly an ILS on one or two engines. However throw in a standby flight instrument ILS with manual stab trim and only a couple of flight instruments plus a baby ILS all in IMC and most are so far outside standard instrument rating flight tolerances they would fail the test. But they never do of course because the box must be ticked and sim time is limited...
If you accept that probably 95% of jet transport pilots have never practiced a dual engine failure followed logically by a dead stick landing, then what an indictment on training departments. But stick a MPL 200 hour pilot as second in command of a 300 passenger jet, then no flight safety problem at all; even if the captain keels over with food poisoning at 20,000 ft. The chances of an MPL pulling that off successfully is great stuff for the bar etc etc