A training and checking captain who was administering an instrument proficiency check to a line captain in an Embraer EMB-120ER Brasilia performed a “V1 cut” — a simulated engine failure on takeoff — “at a speed that did not allow adequate margin for error,” said the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) in its final report on the March 22, 2010, accident at Darwin Airport.
Moreover, the check captain introduced two systems failures — an improper practice during check flights — by moving the left power lever all the way to idle, rather than to a position corresponding to zero thrust, the recommended procedure. In addition to simulating an engine failure, the check captain’s action disabled the twin-turboprop aircraft’s propeller autofeather system. “This produces much more drag from the ‘windmilling’ propeller than had the propeller automatically feathered,” the report said.
The check captain did not restore power to the left engine when air…
