NO TURNING BACK? .....

Acknowledgements: GASCO Flight Safety Extra - January 2020 (John Laming)

 (Ed.Note: A bit long but worth a read, the following is extracted from the full article, which covers twins and jets also .... )

 Is turning back after engine failure ever an option? John Laming looks at this dangerous manoeuvre ........ 

 “(In Australia) over the years several civil aircraft were involved in fatal accidents during asymmetric training with one engine feathered .... From overseas there was documentary evidence of similar accidents in training .... 

 .... the RAAF Central Flying School (CFS) included in the flying instructor syllabus a manoeuvre called the ‘Turn-back’ .... despite the long-held and justifiable view that a turn-back following an engine failure after take-off in a single engine aircraft was tantamount to suicide. Too many variables could affect the success of such a manoeuvre, not least of which was altitude gained at the time of engine failure and pilot competency.

 .... Whether this technique was operationally justified remained a matter of conjecture, but .... because of the risks involved, its practice was limited to dual instruction only. That limitation alone should have generated doubts at all levels about the risk management of such a manoeuvre.

The first turn-back fatality occurred at CFS. Two pilots on a flying instructors’ course were killed .... following a practice engine failure. If they had experienced a real engine failure, there was little doubt that a forced landed straight ahead into fields surrounding the aerodrome would have given them a reasonable chance of survival. A head wind on take-off could translate into a comfortable tail wind to carry you to the runway, but the real danger was the risk of stalling during the steep reversal turn needed to point back at the airfield. Here, the pilot was wide open to the deadly illusion of apparent slipping into the centre of the turn, which is well known to those who indulge in low flying .... 

 At the time, turn-backs were regarded as an exciting manoeuvre to be talked about over beers as a badge of pilot competency ..... The seductive illusion of a long runway behind and their well-practised personal flying skills may have blinded them to the reality of an actual engine failure accompanied by the inevitable shock that this is the real thing. 

 Every second’s delay in reaction could put the aircraft fatally short of the runway in a turn-back .... the RAF were (also) involved with turn-back training on Hawk and Bulldog aircraft, losing several Hawks in the process.

I had the fright of my life .... during a dual check on a senior officer who had just arrived at the squadron .... I had simulated an engine failure on take-off by closing the throttle at 300ft. With a mile of runway ahead, I assumed (wrongly) that the pilot would simply lower the nose and land on the remaining length. Hardly had I closed the throttle when the senior officer shoved the stick forward, simultaneously screwing the (aircraft) into a 60-degree angle of bank reversal turn in order to land from the turn- back. This man was an experienced instructor on (the type) .... I was caught off-guard, and at that height any action on my part to prevent the turn-back would only exacerbate an already serious situation.

On the ground .... I threw rank out of the window and tore into the senior officer for risking our lives with such a foolhardy action .... That incident convinced me that someday, someone would get killed practising it.

My fears were well founded when two years later a (crash killed) an instructor and student. They had departed .... over the sea, with the intention of a practice turn-back. A southerly wind was blowing ..... A solo student would not have been permitted to practice this exercise – although if a real engine failure had occurred, he would have used his discretion to turn back or ditch straight ahead. With a low energy ground speed into the southerly wind, ditching ahead was the safer option. .... This, however, was a dual exercise and part of the flying training syllabus. 

 Witnesses saw the (aircraft) climb normally after take-off until reaching 500 feet over the water. The instructor advised ATC that he was carrying out a simulated engine failure and turn-back. Seconds later the aircraft was seen to turn steeply and shortly after it flicked into an incipient spin. The recovery was made too late to prevent the aircraft from landing heavily in a flat attitude just inside the aerodrome boundary .... the accident was survivable as the aircraft was still in one piece (but) the (aircraft) caught fire and was burning fiercely by the time the rescue crew arrived, .... too late to save the pilots. There was no recommendation from the Court of Inquiry that the policy of practice turn-backs be reviewed in the light of the two fatal accidents ....

 Why were turn-backs introduced into the RAAF syllabus of flying training? There are several possibilities. The RAAF had an agreement with the RAF to exchange selected officers on two-year postings and .... it is possible the idea of turn-back training may have emanated from one of these exchanges .... On the other hand, the idea may (simply) have been the brainchild of the CO or CFI of the day at RAAF CFS. ..... Talking recently to an RAAF CFS instructor, it surprised me to learn that practice turn-backs were still taught at CFS .... (!) 

This article would have finished here except for a chance conversation with a friend now flying .... with the Royal Flying Doctor Service .... The (PC-12) endorsement training carried out at Adelaide included practice turn-backs from 800 feet. By coincidence, his instructor was a former RAAF PC-9 pilot .... The flying skills of RFDS pilots are well documented and there is little doubt the PC-12 has excellent gliding qualities that would serve it well in the event of an engine failure and turn-back .... (but) the fact remains that pilots were killed practising a high-risk manoeuvre near the ground .... Both CASA and ATSB were aware the RAAF and RFDS training syllabus contained turn-back training. The ATSB reply to my letter stating my concerns was that the RFDS considered turn-back training in the PC-12 held no risks and the matter was dismissed .... Are not practice turn-backs just as risky as night asymmetric practice which is banned by CASA directive? 

 .... The purpose of this story is to expose the potential dangers of the practice turn-back manoeuvre. Like mixture cuts on take-off in twin-engine aircraft, (it) can be cynically described as practising bleeding .... It is a manoeuvre that requires skill, an excellent knowledge of the aircraft’s performance capabilities, and more than a little luck to land safely .... 

The opening paragraphs of this article described the dangers of practice feathered landings and, following several accidents, early RAAF action to ban the practice .... Then, both the RAAF and some civil operators introduced turn-back training, despite a history of fatal accidents caused by this manoeuvre. A casual observer could argue with some justification that the RAAF, and now CASA, reveal inconsistency in their approach to training accidents and have failed to learn from past experience.

There is no place for hack-flick-zoom flying near the ground under the guise of training for an emergency, because in the case of a practice turn-back, the final order of events may be similar to that of the unfortunate (aircraft) at Point Cook – hack, flick and finally-burn”.

FLY SAFE!