In February I posted about how a TransAsia ATR72 bound from Taipei Songshan Airport, Taiwan, to Kinmen, Taiwan, crashed shortly after takeoff. Unfortunately 43 people, including both of the pilots, died in the crash. What made this crash especially unique is that we had footage of the exact moment the plane fell out of the…
Continue reading: Cause Of TransAsia Plane Crash Revealed
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Did tou say routine engine failure? Luckily i only had a couple engine failures but none seemed routine. 🙂 I mean 🙁
"That being said, this sure seems like it was pilot error, as the pilots got confused during what was a routine engine failure."
There is nothing routine about an engine failure right after takeoff.
There is no such thing as "routine engine failure". That's a newbie statement if there ever was one. What this appears to be, is technical/equipment failure, compounded with SUBSEQUENT pilot error.
I seem to have the recollection though no details of passed crashes where the pilot made the error or turning off a functional engine thinking it was the failing or on fire engine. If that is correct why is it that the identify of the engine failure is not more clearly displayed in the cockpit. Surely there must be sensors to say when an engine is on fire or with other faults?
Actually if you look into the transcript, it's the PF confused. PNF had a clear understanding of which engine failed. So it makes it rather a CRM issue.
This is interesting. An account of how easy it is for a confused pilot to miss or misinterpret warning signals.
http://yarchive.net/risks/wrong_engine_shutdown.html
Ouch... You would think that a pilot could do this procedure without even having to think about it...
"Ouch… You would think that a pilot could do this procedure without even having to think about it…"
That's probably what happened. Making a snap decision is usually what leads to these sorts of situations. The last thing you want a pilot doing in most emergencies is not thinking.
Did the pilot really said WOW like something cool has happened? Or is it just a loose translation?
The translation is poor. It is more like "oh my" or "$hit", not " wow" as English speakers use the word.
As for the "cause" the cause was well known for months, just confirmed now. What a tragedy. And no an engine failure on take off is not "routine". What IS new news is how this guy failed simulator training for a similar situation. Absolutely points to issues either with Taiwanese aviation authorities, TranaAsia, or both. To just nonchalantly blame the pilot is just part of the sensationalist telephone game.
"this sure seems like it was pilot error, as the pilots got confused"
In the study of root cause analysis, this is a red herring. See http://radar.oreilly.com/2014/11/the-infinite-hows.html. Any time the cause is "Human Error", we doom ourselves to repeat the same disaster. "Pilot error" means that we cannot fix the problem because it is isolated in these pilots. Instead we must ask if there's inadequate or unclear information in cockpit design (how did the pilot become confused? what caused him to think the wrong engine was out?) or insufficiency in pilot training (as seems to be the case here)
Dodgy translations aside, it's perfectly normal to use the word wow in such a context. It doesn't only mean "cool" - it also expresses surprise etc.
Accidents are horrible, but I am glad the stupid pilots paid for the mistake with their lives and some people survived.