Robert Moore wrote:
"Marco Leon" mleon(at)optonline.net wrote


I for one think you did the right thing. There are two sides to
an mechanical failure emergency--the mechanical failure itself
and the ability of the pilot to handle that failure. If you had
serious doubts about the ability to handle the situation, then
it truly was an emergency. I'm sure there are test pilots out
there that fail one system or another on a regular basis and can
handle most type of failures. These pilot may not consider many
mechanical failures emergencies where the majority of the pilot
population would find themselves in a world of hurt given the
same situation.


As a Naval Aviator, I flew the Lockheed P-3 Orion on 10-12 hour
patrols. After about 2 hours, we shut-down (feathered) the number
one engine and after 2-3 more hours, off went number four for the
remainder of the flight. All of this at 100' to 500'. Certainly
wasn't an emergency to us but for the average airline pilot flying
the same basic airplane (Electra), this would have been an emergency
for sure.

Yes, having a plane load of passengers isn't quite the same as a plane
with a military crew. The military by necessity accepts risks every day
that would be unacceptable to civilian commercial aviation.


Matt