Engine Failure Off So Cal Coast

[XTSKid]

Was just listening to my feed and caught this one. I'm at work so I used sound recorder to capture from the archive so I apologize for the quality.

Removed non pertinent conversation and periods of silence. The plane was actually flying from the Camarillo Airport which is just South of Santa Barbara.

[flyer_d]

Boy, he sounds like a really nice guy.  "Over!"

[xnvyflyer]

Yeah, the pilot sounded a tad on the grouchy side.

[lostmoon]

i think one would be grouchy too if one lost an engine. i thought he was just fine, over.

[tedco21]

I think the pilot was calm and well behaved, under the circumstances.

[aviator_06]

Well I think i'd be grouchy if i told the controller i had an engine failure and the approach cam back and asked if it was an emergency. "Nope, no emergency here, just lost one of my engines, i think i have enough power from my number 2 engine to to take me right to the scene of the crash."

[inigo88]

As a pilot, I'm completely confused by his choice to fly all the way back to Camarillo when he was much closer to John Wayne and Long Beach (the controller is equally puzzled and asks). His lack of initially declaring an emergency wastes time while the controller tries to inquire why he's turning around, and he only does so after being prompted to do so by the controller. An engine failure is a serious emergency, even in a twin, and unfortunately this pilot's actions seem to indicate he wasn't really respecting the severity of the situation (what if he lost the other engine over the water?), while sounding annoyed with ATC even though the communication problems originated with his non-standard phraseology and lack of initially declaring an emergency. I don't have my MEL yet and only he knew the exact circumstances of his emergency, but I would have played it a lot safer in that position - nursed my still good engine in by making an expedited landing at a closer airport rather than running it at a high power setting for an extended period of time, over water, where any gliding options to other airports would be extremely limited.

Still, he's the PIC.