Recently, there was recently another Twin Cessna loss with a reported engine failure on a 310. This happened after lift off from John Wayne Airport, and the right engine was reported as failing. In a Twin Cessna, this is the engine you want to fail if one has to fail. Since the failure occurred after liftoff, the pilot tried to bring the aircraft back and was evidently on final when he lost the aircraft.
Initial reports indicated he had the gear up and reported to the tower he was trying to gain altitude. He did not make it. There were two people on board. The plane should have been able to hold altitude with the left engine turning the gear up. The flaps being up was not being reported.
The NTSB also just released a report from an accident involving a Cessna 421. The pilot landed and one of his engines was down by three quarts. The flight to the airport was only an hour and a half. That is way too short a flight to lose three quarts of oil. The pilot picked up a passenger and continued the flight. After takeoff he lost the engine that had the low oil and could not recover.
Both of these accidents were low to the ground incidences at the busiest time in the flight, landing or lifting off. In each case why did they not recover when other people have recovered with this same situation?
We fly these scenarios in our sims. We fly them with both the 310 and the 421 and based on what we know about the loading of these aircraft, these situations should have not happened.
Lost engines and emergencies in general, happening close to the ground create havoc. Higher up, the pilot has time to set up a plan and get the plane down. Mistakes such as airspeed lost and heading loss or mishandling of the aircraft are forgiving because you have time to correct the problems. When a pilot is low to the ground, it has to be right from the first indication of the problem.
I can’t force people to spend money and time training. I wish I could. Even the high end expensive simulator training facilities cannot give you perfection. The only thing that can give you success is practice and maintaining a level of proficiency that you draw on from practice. And that means practice over and over. As I learned during my military training – it is drill, drill, drill.