Back in the ‘80s, I was part of the team that started SimuFlite – at the time the largest startup in dollar terms in aviation history. Besides seeing how a new business is born from the inside, I had the opportunity to give simulator instruction to some of the best business aviation crews in the industry. I spent many hours in the Learjet 35/36 and King Air 200 simulators running training scenarios that taught, tested, and sometimes humbled the pilots.
One session I remember vividly involved a Learjet crew who were very sharp – and quick. They had handled every emergency the lesson plans called for with accuracy and blinding speed. They always took the correct action, and often completed the emergency checklists from memory. It was too good to be true.
Toward the end of the week, we had just a few more items to cover. Shortly after takeoff I introduced a fuel computer (now called FADEC) malfunction which increased the N1 on the affected engine to 109 percent. The left seat pilot automatically did the “dead foot, dead engine” routine in his head and called “engine failure”. Together, they began their “blur-of-switches” routine, shutting down the good engine. Seconds later, they realized they had no control over the remaining engine – the good engine shut down and the bad engine still producing huge amounts of thrust. Finally studying the engine instruments, the pilot muttered “Oh shit” under his breath.
There’s an old saying in aviation that before acting on any emergency you should wind your watch. Now I haven’t owned a watch that needed winding in years, but the idea is still sound. Taking a few seconds to analyze the situation can go a long way toward preventing a bad situation from getting worse. Just remember, while you wind you watch, you still have to fly the airplane!
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