YouTube has a great 15-minute video of an Airbus A340 crew running ECAMs and checklists that results in shutting down an engine in flight. For real. It’s been viewed a bunch of times, but I hadn’t seen it till today, so maybe you haven’t either. It’s an interesting, thought provoking experience.
The Swiss airline crew were being filmed by PilotsEye.tv for a high-quality video production of their Zurich to Shanghai flight. But during climb out the number three engine oil temperature starts to gently rise. It’s not TOPGUN, but rather a rare invitation for an intimate look at how professional pilots handle non-normal events in an Airbus.
I’ve seen pilots handle smaller events in simulators worse than this crew does in flight, being filmed, for real.
Watch the crew coordination.
Enjoy the calm control.
Notice the cadence, the pacing of events.
Do pilots in the US know the use of PAN PAN PAN?
Why didn’t the third pilot, the cruise FO, strap-in and join the crew?
See how how a minor advisory can end up in an engine-out approach, these events rarely start with the massive engine fire at V1 that we practice in the sim. But Airbus pilots may spot that someone starts down the wrong checklist, and someone else notices.
What did you notice here you didn’t expect?