Bandwith

I dont recall if it was a checkride, or just a flight with a friendly instructor putting me through some maneuvers. At some portion during it, however, the right-seater asked me what the single engines oil pressure was reading. It must have been a frustrating ride for me, because I responded with something like, I guess its still in the green, because the engine hasnt quit, but Ive been so busy I havent had time to look. My response didnt go over well, but we both may have learned something from it.

Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

Wednesday, February 25, 2015 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The article emphasizes the critical need for pilots to consistently monitor engine instruments, even during high-workload phases, as a lack of "bandwidth" can lead to overlooked vital signs.
A fatal accident was caused by the pilot's failure to detect a steady loss of engine oil pressure, leading to catastrophic engine failure over unsuitable terrain.
Flight data revealed the engine oil pressure steadily declined for several minutes before the engine quit, despite the pilot initially reporting "low fuel pressure," indicating a misdiagnosis of the true engine problem.

See a mistake? Contact us.

For my part, I learned I needed to do a better job of monitoring the airplanes engine instruments-probably along with some other stuff-regardless of what else was going on in the cockpit. Its tough, sometimes, to have the bandwidth to work the engine instruments into our instrument panel scans. During high-workload situations-takeoffs and departures, for example, approaches or even simple pattern work-its entirely possible the first sign of an engine problem well notice is the stopped prop in front of our faces.