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AviationManeuvering with one engine inoperative
At a safe altitude in a twin, an engine fails for real: you keep control, run the memory items, feather the right propeller, look for the cause, secure the engine, fly on one engine and then restart it. It is Task A of Area X, Multiengine Operations, in the FAA Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards, for the airplane classes listed below.
Free to startScenarios
- Airplane multiengine land (AMEL).
- Airplane multiengine sea (AMES).
The steps
- Recognize the engine failure, keep control, do the manufacturer's memory items and use the right emergency procedures.
- Set the engine controls, identify and verify the inoperative engine and feather the right propeller.
- Use the flight controls in the combination the manufacturer recommends, or as needed for best performance, and trim as needed.
- Try to find and fix the reason for the engine failure.
- Secure the inoperative engine, monitor the operating engine and adjust as needed.
- Restart the inoperative engine with the manufacturer's restart procedure.
- Hold altitude within 100 feet, or the minimum sink rate if applicable, airspeed within 10 knots and the selected headings within 10 degrees.
- Complete the appropriate checklists.
Safety rules that stop the station
- Feathering or shutting down an engine is done only where a safe landing on an established airport is possible, with the single-engine work ending no lower than 3,000 feet above the ground or the manufacturer's altitude, whichever is higher.
- Any action, or lack of action, that makes the examiner step in to keep the flight safe is unsatisfactory.
- Consistently exceeding the tolerances of the task, or not correcting promptly when you exceed them, is unsatisfactory.
To pass
- The right propeller feathered, the engine secured and restarted, altitude within 100 feet or minimum sink, airspeed within 10 knots and headings within 10 degrees.
- Know what changes VMC, VMC (red line) and VYSE (blue line), how to identify, verify, feather and secure an inoperative engine, why drag reduction matters, feathering, securing, unfeathering and restarting, and the risks of an engine failure in flight, collision, configuring the airplane, low-altitude stalls and spins, and distractions.
- Missing the standard on this task fails the task and its area of operation.
Official source
Federal · FAA Private Pilot ACS
Private Pilot for Airplane Category Airman Certification Standards (FAA-S-ACS-6C)
The FAA publishes the Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards free: every task of the checkride with its knowledge, risks and tolerances.
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