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Originally Posted by XcalibeR  Ok, maybe I should clarify a little bit. The scenario in this case isn't as much about the cause of the engine shutdown nearly as much as it is about the decision making process after the fact. For some unknown reason, the engine shut down (assume windmilling). And then it got restarted. Whether you did it, or it just restarted on it's own, it doesn't matter. You are now running on two engines, but are unsure of why it shut down in the first place (As I said in the original post, fuel starvation was not the cause, as far as you can tell from the pilot's seat. That's all the information you get!  ). You are a third of the way along your route, have an open emergency with ATC, and now you are faced with the decision to divert or continue.
The reason I asked this question was a sim I did a few days ago. The guy running the sim gave me an engine failure in cruise. Based on the situation, there were a few different reasons I could come up with that could've caused the failure (ended up being the one I most expected...imagine that). A little while after doing my checklist, the engine came back. I still wasn't completely sure what caused the failure, but now I was faced with a decision I didn't expect...I had two working engines, with an emergency declared, 30ish miles back, 45ish miles to go, which airport do I go to? |
I'm still confused here...you say that you did your checklist, but during this checklist you forgot
identify, verify, feather? So, from what I am reading, you had an engine failure, ran your checklist, and just left the prop unfeathered, just windmilling away? Still further confused by you stating in your original post that "you decide to try to restart it" and your second post of "And then it got restarted"/"the engine came back". Which one was it? Furthermore, I don't see how the engine could "just come back" unless you left it windmilling and didn't feather and secure the engine. Guess I need a clarification of "a little while"...are you talking 30 seconds or 3 minutes? Considering the engine failure was at 20nm and you are now 30nm with two engines, I am guessing you are talking several minutes between checklist and the engine restarting.
But for now, I will go along with the situation of the engine coming back...
As I stated before, the decision on where to go in this situation is not something that is made at the time of the failure. It is a decision that is made before you even get in the airplane. If you have done proper preflight planning, then there is no need to worry about "which airport do I go to?" Your decision should already have been made. From what you have said so far, I would be returning to the departure airport, with an engine shut down and prop feathered.