Originally Posted by
Lonewolf_50
.........................
Back to the accident at hand: if there were confusing indications of what was wrong with the #2 engine, wherein the interpretation of what the engine and its instrumentation were telling the crew, what were they? If it was enough to induce the captain to command the good engine to shut down, the community who fly this model of aircraft would likely benefit from understanding that anomaly.
Possible CRM issue: when you both can't agree on what's wrong with the engine ...
When available, a CVR transcript might be very educational.
I would be very surprised to find out there is some kind of and "anomaly" which contributed to them shutting down the wrong engine.
It shouldn't be the Captain ordering which engine to shut down. It is the Flying Pilot(FP) who instructs the the Non-Flying Pilot(NFP) to do the engine shutdown drill (memory items) or engine shutdown checklist.
Shutting down an engine is not a one step process. First the NFP placed his hand on the power lever and asks the FP to confirm it is the correct one. Then the NFP will slowly bring the power lever to idle. After those first two steps you should know with 100% certainty that you have the correct engine.
If all looks normal to both pilots(three in this case) then the NFP places his hand on the Condition Lever and again asks the FP to confirm he has the correct Condition Lever. THEN you bring the Condition Lever to the Cut Off or Shut Off position.
I have done hundreds of shutdowns in the Simulator and occasionally someone will start by placing their hand on the wrong power lever. Usually the flying pilot will catch it. In a very few cases they will miss identify the power lever and end up pulling back the power on the working engine. There is instant feedback that you have the wrong engine and a simple push forward on the lever fixes everything.
It is very difficult to imagine how this experienced 3 man crew accidentally shut down the WRONG engine if they followed the correct engine shutdown procedure.
Yes, it will be VERY interesting to read the CVR transcripts.