Originally Posted by
GlueBall
deefer Dog - After engine failure, some rudder input becomes necessary in order to maintain flight path, directional control, heading. Most multiengine students during basic flight training have learned the elementary principle of "dead foot, dead engine." This concept is so instinctive that a good pilot does not need to look at engine instruments to determine which engine has lost power, or in the case of a four engined airplane, on which side the power loss had occured. So I stand by my comment that this crew, especially the PF, was incompetent in the elementary task of identifying the inoperative engine.
Glueball incompetent`s a bit heavy. Yes blame does lie with him for shutting down the wrong engine, but he was not alone in such an error, the chaps in the Kegworth crash did just the same and they had the comfort of time and altitude to realise their error, but did they, no they did not. By the very fact that it happened yet again the lessons of the Kegworth crash could not have been learned. Just have a look at the check list, nothing about dead leg anywhere on it. So the blame does not lie solely on the shoulders of the unfortunate crew. Most are taught on piston twins, lethal on single engine out on t/0, and the dead leg dead engine bit is drilled into them at that stage. But once they move onto the big and heavy machines they leave all that behind for the sophistication of automated systems. In this instance it was the AFU that was the first element in the causal chain. An essential piece of kit for a large turbo prop twin, without which it would require both legs of an Olympic wrestler to feather the great big paddles and keep the thing right way up. I just wonder for the ATR, as to where the AFU sits, on the DEL or MEL. I`d be surprised if it is on the deferred.