An old accident but lessons still valid today

[Centaurus]

Current flying instructors qualified to conduct multi-engine endorsement training on light piston engine twins, are well advised to read the following ATSB Report. It concerns an accident during endorsement training on a Piper Seneca that happened at Tyabb in April 1995. The instructor cut the mixture control on one engine during approach to land and let the prop windmill instead having the student set zero thrust.

In addition, the instructor told the student to make the landing a touch and go with the instructor setting the mixture of the failed engine back to rich on touch down. The engine failed to start and the instructor took over from the student during the attempted touch and go and lost control. The aircraft crashed and burnt.

Since then, there would have been many newly graduated multi-engine instructors who would have never heard of that accident and therefore unaware of the pitfalls associated with mixture cuts to simulate engine failures in the circuit.

For what its worth: https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/4932765/199500988.pdf

[Lead Balloon]

Also FWIW, instructors should have a deep understanding of the fuel system fitted to the particular aircraft being flown. They aren't all the same.

For example, lots of pilots believe that pulling the mixture control to ICO will shut off the fuel to an engine. That's not true on all engines.

As another example, lots of pilots believe that the probabilities of an engine returning to full power are greater if the method of failure simulation is to pull the throttle rather than the mixture. That's not true on all engines.

(I daren't contemplate the attack of the vapours that might be caused, for some, if I were to mention those of us who run tanks dry, as an SOP, on long trips...)