Baron 55/Cochise
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 185; Flight Crew Total 6132; Flight Crew Type 116
Troubleshooting; Distraction; Situational Awareness; Time Pressure; Workload
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Diverted; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification; Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition
Aircraft
The mission was to attend fly-in with my student on a cross country trip. On pre-flight; I checked the right engine oil and it had 11 quarts. There was no evidence of leaks; and both myself and the student had been flying this plane and it was not burning oil. It had been running very well; despite being only 150 hours from TBO.We flew uneventfully for 3 hours and began our descent to ZZZ. We leveled off at pattern altitude and were carefully monitoring the local frequency since there was a lot of traffic at the airport. At the fly in; they were having a STOL (Short-field Takeoff and Landing) contest and landing on a grass area to the side of the runway. We entered the pattern; announced our location; coordinated with other aircraft and did a low approach for ground personnel to get photos. After the low approach; we entered the pattern for a full stop landing. The winds were very strong; gusting to about 30 knots at the surface but for the most part very close to the runway orientation. I briefed my student for the landing and he entered the downwind. On the downwind; I noticed the plane was yawing and that the RPM on the right engine was fluctuating slightly; from about 2500RPM to about 2200RPM and back; while the manifold pressure was steady. I then looked at the right engine oil temperature and pressure and noticed the pressure was below the acceptable range; at about 15 PSI; and the temperature was pegged to the upper limit. This was odd because for the 3 hour flight; I had been carefully monitoring it and it was steady with no changes. I knew something was wrong; and we cleaned up the airplane (raised gear and flaps) and headed away from ZZZ since there were many aircraft giving rides and doing a STOL contest. After a discussion with my student; we decided to divert to ZZZ1 with a longer runway and less general aviation traffic.I briefed that my student would land the airplane; but that we would set up and approach in a single engine configuration since the yawing was getting more dramatic and we could lose the right engine at any time. I briefed that we would use both engines for the landing since it was still making good power. On an 8 mile final; the right engine lost power (down to about 1500RPM) and oil started covering the engine and wing. I declared the engine failure to the tower; took the controls; and directed my student to perform the emergency memory items for engine failure - identify; verify; and feather. We feathered the right engine and continued for landing in the single engine approach configuration. Since we were less than 60 seconds from landing and stable; I elected to continue the landing after just the memory items (throttle; prop; mixture) and not perform the full engine shutdown procedure. I landed safely but we were unable to taxi to the left with the left engine running and high winds; so we exited the aircraft and pushed it past the hold short lines with the help of firefighters. Oil was all over the place. Upon inspection of the engine; we found that a connecting rod went through the case near the cylinder at the front left of the engine. After towing it to the hangar; we had just over 3 quarts of oil left. It was less than 5 minutes from the time that I noticed a problem until we were on the ground. Some debrief items from the emergency were that I probably should have been more clear about our situation to ZZZ approach. As we were approaching to land; we had engine power on both engines so I didn't request priority handling; although in hindsight it would have been a good idea. I did declare the engine failure as soon as it happened while on short final. I also don't believe the tower realized we were a twin engine aircraft; despite calling the aircraft 'Baron'; since they asked if we could make the airport from that altitude; to which I replied that we could. For the past few years; it's been a simulator scenario in the Boeing to lose the engine on short final. We continue the landing; as the risk of the single engine go around outweighs just landing the aircraft as long as we have positive control and instruments required for landing (since we are always in low IMC in the sim). I agree with this philosophy; since it was best to just land and we had good VMC conditions.We are hoping to tear down the engine and find what happened; but it's a good reminder on the importance of practicing emergency procedures. I went with my student on the flight since he was not multi engine current and hadn't flown the plane regularly since getting his license. It turned out to be good that I was there. I highly recommend anyone who owns a multi engine plane to practice and receive recurrent training in emergency procedures.
Instructor Pilot reported loss of power in the right engine due to oil loss and diverted to another airport.