Originally Posted by
Genghis the Engineer
tmmorris' post above reminds me of something I was told by my first boss in a flight test department, which remains excellent advice.
That said, if he had the kit and training, he absolutely could have climbed into IMC and asked for a diverting IAP into Southampton. He might be embarrassed with paperwork to do - and would be wise to declare a pan. But if he and the aeroplane could do it, it's a legitimate set of actions, albeit emergency ones.
G
I don't think you've read the report. The die was cast. With the wastegate locked closed and the TCU protection logic disabled, it was a just a question of when not if the crank would let go on overspeed. Throttling up and climbing into IMC would guarantee a seizure.
Although of course the pilot was unaware of that.