Re:The Differences Between the Plane Crash in Tapei and the ...
by cpncrunch on Thursday April 09, 2015 @12:50PM
(#9348963)
Although it happened on takeoff, they were at about 1000ft, so it's not an immediate "do or die" moment. They should have been trained to calmly identify the failed engine before feathering it. Many high-time pilots say that the first thing you should do when an engine fails in cruise flight is absolutely nothing. You need to relax and calmly assess the situation. Although they weren't in cruise, they certainly had enough altitude to be able to take 10 seconds to calm down and properly identify the problem.
Re:The Differences Between the Plane Crash in Tapei and the ...
by acveilleux on Thursday April 09, 2015 @12:47PM
(#9348933)
Gnarly single-engine loss in commuter turboprops is fairly common (for a rare failure). They often happen in climb outs but thankfully there's usually more altitude.
Air Canada Jazz had 6 engine failures (plus 2 more problems) in the last 12 months across their DHC8 fleet (I fly with them once a month on average and never had a blip, thankfully.)
By contrast the Taipei flight has a perfectly good working engine and should have had no problem reaching a runway and landing with minor drama at worst.
There is no question that losing an engine in a twin prop plane on takeoff is among the more gnarly problems you can have but there is absolutely no reason the plane had to depart from controlled flight.
It is pilot error that caused the deaths of dozens of passengers, period. Without said error that plane would have been able to land at an airport and taxi back to a gate.
(Source - I have a pilots license)