Nurse or feather that engine??

[deemee boosgkee]

My CFII was playing ATC while I was doing some IFR work in a AST-300 sim configured as a Seneca. Just as I was entering a hold he assigned the right engine ran very rough and lost about 7 in of MP. I looked up and saw the oil T pegged and the oil P very low. I was torn on whether or not to shut it down or simply reduce the power. I decided to reduce the power and wait to see if it cooled. About 5 min later the oil T was now down to 20 deg shy of redline. I kept it running at reduced power and did a LOC app and broke out 100 above the MDA.

In this situation would it have been better to feather it and shut it down or to keep it running at perhaps 40% power while montoring it accordingly? On the one hand I never like to be in a hurry to shut down an engine unless its on fire or about to break off from severe vibration but on the other hand I wasn't crazy about keeping it running for fear that it would seize therefore not being able to feather it or that also keeping it running would risk further damage which might lead to a fire.

Also I was flying over near SL terrain so the MEA's were well below the SE ceiling even in a measley Seneca!!

Keep her running or put her to bed? What's say you??

 

[siegelaviation]

My CFII was playing ATC while I was doing some IFR work in a AST-300 sim configured as a Seneca. Just as I was entering a hold he assigned the right engine ran very rough and lost about 7 in of MP. I looked up and saw the oil T pegged and the oil P very low. I was torn on whether or not to shut it down or simply reduce the power. I decided to reduce the power and wait to see if it cooled. About 5 min later the oil T was now down to 20 deg shy of redline. I kept it running at reduced power and did a LOC app and broke out 100 above the MDA.

In this situation would it have been better to feather it and shut it down or to keep it running at perhaps 40% power while montoring it accordingly? On the one hand I never like to be in a hurry to shut down an engine unless its on fire or about to break off from severe vibration but on the other hand I wasn't crazy about keeping it running for fear that it would seize therefore not being able to feather it or that also keeping it running would risk further damage which might lead to a fire.

Also I was flying over near SL terrain so the MEA's were well below the SE ceiling even in a measley Seneca!!

Keep her running or put her to bed? What's say you??

Owning and operating a Seneca II, I would have shut it down. If terrain isn't an issue and you don't have to worry about a missed/approach or go-around, a precautionary shut down would be wise. It doesn't take very long to get some nasty damage!

Michael

 

[CAVOK69]

It is easy to say what we would do in your position, having not been there!

But since you asked for advice, I'll give it.

Unless I suspected fuel contamination or terrain was an issue, or perhaps on the last couple 100 feet of a real instrument approach, I would have shut the engine down. You never know what could be the outcome of the engine coming apart in flight. Safer to declare an emergency, shutdown, get on the ground and ask questions later.

But it seems like what you did worked also. Had the engine lost all oil quantitiy then reducing the power setting would only delay the outcome shortly.

 

[AC560]

If you are losing oil pressure good chance the engine is going to feather on its own and make the decision for you. Best to be prepared either way.

 

[minitour]

If I'm losing oil pressure, I'd rather feather it myself than have it seize up on me all of a sudden...yes I know how a CS prop works and it should feather, but think of all of those squat switches that should keep the gear from coming up.

Aside from that or a fire, if it's giving me some power, I'm all for keeping it running especially in a piston twin.

JMHO

-mini

 

[svcta]

Maybe it's the jet operator in me, but maybe not......If it's running and not coming apart save it in case you do need it. Maybe especially in a seneca.

You got the temp down by reducing a bit of power and were set up to get it on the ground soon. You know you've got a situation that requires you land. Nurse the engine home. Precautionary shut downs are something that I think are best saved for turbines. Only because most turbine powered a/c are perfectly capable or flying just fine with one engine, and if they develop a problem it's usually serious.

Advice: Do not ever fly the airplane like you own it and have to pay for things. Even if you do. (when it comes to emergencies)

 

[svcta]

stupid internet. Double posted.

 

[unreal]

The way I see it, there's probably a pretty good reason why the engine just suddenly started losing oil pressure and running rough. I'd be looking at the root causes, which includes the possibility of an oil leak. With a high engine temp and oil possibly leaking into places it shouldn't be, I'm shutting that sucker down. Better to have to deal with flying a single-engine approach than dealing with an in-flight fire, or best case, an engine seizing up.

 

[deemee boosgkee]

Owning and operating a Seneca II, I would have shut it down. If terrain isn't an issue and you don't have to worry about a missed/approach or go-around, a precautionary shut down would be wise. It doesn't take very long to get some nasty damage!

Michael

The possibility of having to go missed because of LIFR contributed to my decision to keep it running. Lets say ATC gave me a bad vector right onto the marker while keeping me high and I had to go missed. My rationale was that I wanted as much power available in case this happened or if LLWS was encountered on the approach. (Usually occurs near W fronts and LL Temp inv which are usually the culprits of LIFR conditions.) While it was a hard decision whether to nurse or feather the engine, it was an easy decision fly the plane, maintain control and ask for vectors to the nrst suitable airport.

If it had been a turboprop or jet my decision would have been to secure it since they rarely have the issues of SE performance that piston twins do. Additionally, if I had shut it down I was increasing the chances (albeit slightly) of the other engine quitting because it would have run hotter due to the higher power needed to maintain altitude.


It disturbs me that scenarios like these are rarely taught when getting a ME rating. It seems in training that all the abnormal and emergency scenarios are clear cut and the engine failures sudden. The students then become programed and canned responses are the norm. Little emphasis is given to less clear cut situations that require a lot of deductive reasoning and many steps before making a decision. Luckily I am aware of this shortcoming in training and asked my CFII to give me emergencies in the sim that are not clear cut. For that I am grateful!


Thanks everyone for the feedback.

 

[svcta]

You made the right choice.

High oil temp or an engine running hot because of an obvious lubrication problem will not generate hear sufficient to start a fire.

Props feather a little more matter-of-factly than micro switches and old wires not preventing an inadvertent gear retraction. There's no 'system' to it; it's the laws of physics at work.


In a recip, in my opinion(most of them), there is almost no such thing as a precautionary shut down.

Clear weather and daylight would possibly generate a different response. But given the scenario, I'm sicking to my answer.