They Tried To Fly A Broken Plane | Air Tindi Flight 503
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- Опубликовано: 8 ноя 2022
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This is the story of Air tindi flight, on the 30th of january 2019, an air tindi beechcraft 200 was on the ground at yellowknife airport in canada, for the pilots of the beechcraft that day would be hectic as they had 6 planned legs that day. Theyd leave yellow knife and first head to whati from there to wekweeti airport. From there they would go to Ekati aerodrome after that theyd fly the reverse to get back to yellowknife. Smaller communities in canada depend on small beechrafts like this for all that they need, flights like these are quite literally one of their biggest life lines to the wider world. By 7:45 am the plane was wheeled out of the hangar and it was fueled with 3200 pounds of fuel for the days flights. With fueling done the pilots entered the cockpit and began the pre departure checklist. On the right hand side the first officer noted that the right hand side attitude indicator was not erect. Pilots make use of the attitude indicator to make sure that the plane is level and stable when external horizons are not available. In short its a pretty important piece indicator, but the plane had two so the captain was not that concerned. He assured his first officer that the attitude indicator would sort itself out soon enough. As the pilots went through their checklists the first officer had an eye on the attitude indicator just checking on it to see if was back up and running. Even when the captain reading off the takeoff briefing the attitude indicator was broken. The pilots discussed their flight and their plane, they talked about how on That day they could expect some moderate icing above 4000 feet but other than that it was a great day for flying and the captain talked about how he wanted to leave the gear down for a bit after takeoff to blow off some of the snow that had accumulated on the gear. Finally the captain asked the first officer if he had any questions, the first officer had none. As the first officer finished the lineup checklist flight 503 lined up on the runway.
At 8:51 am takeoff power was applied and flight 503 started its takeoff roll. As the plane picked up speed the captain wanted to know if the right hand attitude indicator was working, the first officer replied that it wasnt. As flight 503 climbed away form yellowknife the pilots started with the after takeoff checklist. Even after takeoff the attitude indicator wasnt working, the captain suggested that the first officer give it a few taps to see if that would fix the problem. But as the beechcraft climbed any hopes of the attitude indicator coming back online fell. Soon they were at 12000 feet their cruising altitude. The captain turned on the autopilot so that they could trouble shoot the right hand side attitude indicator, throughout their cruise the pilots tried to fix the attitude indicator. But it didnt work, by 9:05 am it was time for them to start their descent. They would first be making an rnav approach to runway 28 and then they would circle and land on runway 10. As they finished their descent checklist the pilots got a transmission from another plane that had landed at whati, from this other plane they were able to get runway and weather condtions. By 9:10 am the plane was descending through 10,800 feet. They would be on the ground soon the pilots made the necessary radio calls as they approached the airport. Then at 9:11 am the captains attitude indicator showed a red gyro flag. It had failed. It took the autopilot with it as well. The captain started to fly the plane on partial instruments and he arrested their descent. At first they started to climb but that didnt last long, the beechcraft started to lose altitude, at first the plane was turning to the right . Within about 38 seconds the turn to the right was replaced by a turn to the left. The left turn got steeper and steeper, within seconds flight 503 was spiraling . there was no coming back for flight 503. In the cockpit the pilots were getting pull up warnings but they couldnt. At 9:12 am and 24 seconds flight 503 impacted the terrain. A satellite orbiting overheard picked up flight 503’s emergency locator transmitter and within an hour a C130 hercules was dispatched from winnipeg to search for the missing plane. By 2pm the c130 had found the crash site of the beechcraft. None of the two pilots on board had survived. 
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The app can only work with WiFi
I am an aircraft mechanic and pilot who now works in air accident investigation. I can tell you that the older attitude instruments can be terrifyingly unreliable, especially vacuum powered instruments (although in the case of Air Tindi, this looks like it was electrically driven.) This is in part because these instruments use delicate gyros that are sensitive to shocks (like hard landings) and changes in temperature. Small aircraft owners have the option of installing digital attitude indicators in their aircraft, which use accelerometers (like in your iPhone) to determine attitude rather than a delicate gyro and I try to get the owners I know to install those.
I love the subtle "subscribe" on the planes tail there the registration goes. But joke's on you, I've been already subscribed to you for a long time!
Funny! You're quite astute. I did not see it. Subliminal?
@@butchieblock9118 at 3:38 mark
This is brilliant. Our unconscious mind picked it up
Also at 1:30
I am a student pilot. I use foreflight for flights / simulator. ForeFlight only shows attitude if connected to an external source - like a Foreflight Sentry. The pilots may not have used foreflight because it would not work for the purposes they need it for.
I was going to say... an app would be my last resort. I'm still trying to understand a small plane that can't be flown during the day in clear weather without that instrument. I wish there was more detail about this mentioned here. 🥺
@@patriciamariemitchel I agrée - there’s no easy explanation for why they lost control. If the day was perfect for flying apart from a chance of moderate icing, they were only at 14k ft. They should have been able to see the ground enough to know whether they were wings level or not.
foreflight works just fine with a ipad that has cell data connectivity option - these units have GPS
@@ghostrider-be9ek I’m talking about AHRS, not GPS. I have gps and doesn’t show ahrs without an external unit.
@@ghostrider-be9ek, that's the problem: cell data.
The attitude indicator not working and flying into bad weather seems like a bad combination. I can understand that they think the indicator will start working once they get going, but when it didn't start working, that should have been a sign to turn back.
It's been a long time since I flew. But one of the basic 6 instruments on the panel used to be a "turn/slip" indicator. It's supposed to help you make coordinated turns using ailerons and the rudder. It won't give you pitch indications, but it does give you roll indications independent of the attitude indicator.
I get that the captain didn't have good partial panel training, but I'd assume he'd look at that before he got out an iPad.
That's what 'partial panel' uses, along with airspeed for pitch (increasing airspeed means you're pitch down, decreasing pitch up), to maintain level flight. You get some training on that getting a commercial licence (and maybe ATP, but I never went that far), but I don't think many pilots stay proficient with that, as the video says starting around 8:30. It's not just this pilot who would be out of practice flying partial panel.
In this type of aircraft there isn't the classic VFR Turn Coordinator
How very sad to learn that the problem was known and reported 15 times. Like you said, the CA probably didn't expect that there may come a day when it wouldn't come to life. I'm not a pilot nor mechanic, but what else might their fleet's mx records reveal (or not)? RIP 🙏
In the early 2000's a similar situation was unfolding TWICE with a regional airline in Western Australia. The first was an HSI (Horizontal Situation Indicator) that kept drifting and needed constant resetting. This was, like the AI in the video, swapped around between three aircraft, every time it was written up as unserviceable.
The second. A new pilot was given a triangular route to fly, and was told at the end of the second leg, to take on 200 litres of fuel, that was provided. At that stop he calculated he had more than enough fuel remaining to safely make it back, so didn't add fuel.
As he crossed the perimiter fence on landing, one engine flamed out, and on the landing rollout, the other engine did the same. He had completely run out of fuel. He was sacked because he didn't take on fuel at the second stop.
It wasn't until later that he found out the fuel gauges were faulty, (hence the need to refuel at the second leg), but this was NOT annotated ANYWHERE in the aircraft log. The dud gauges were only known about through word of mouth.
Great video, thank you for bringing light to this accident, both pilots were my colleagues, excellent aviators. Hopefully lessons can be learned from this.
i wasnt too experienced at that point compared to others, but two items always took space in my flight bag, an Icom transceiver, route frequencies programmed and a Garmin moving map hi res GPS which I always kept at hand. One day an experienced jock joked at it, 'they will lead you to crash quicker'. I never flew with that 'Sir Crash Quicker' guy again.
I’ve often wondered: does that GPS map work reliably as far north as Yellowknife?
@@Rishnai ... It does not matter where you are on the surface of the earth provided you're not inside of a mountain or thick overhead vegetation. There are 31 satellites that circle the earth...all synced to the atomic clock. The GPS receiver only requires four to pinpoint your position within 10-15 feet. They each circle the earth once every 12 hours. Garmin has always been the leader in GPS technology.
I had to fly an ils approach to kteb rwy 6 to mins in a C210 without an attitude indicator. I'm glad I practiced partial panel approaches as much as I could. I did that with all my students also. It will happen, be ready. Practice.
Yeah aviation in the north of Canada is the lifeline of the smaller communities. Planes like the C-46, DC3, Lockheed Electras are essential. Like what Buffalo Airways fly. Didn't know those planes like the Beechcraft were used for freight too. All in all, great video.
North of 60 is a very unforgiving region.
Look up "Wop May".
if I remember correctly
they would have needed to keep the app current and loaded, with the I-pad in a usable position within the cockpit... in an emergency, you do not have the time to do the whole startup necessary for it to work.
flew as a passenger on flights where the pilot did use Foreflight, seems like a popular & awesome tool....
I know Russian pilots are using some western tech to navigate... 🤔 Which is interesting.
TBF you could use one of those bubble stick apps on your phone to provide horizontal data.
@@yakacm nope, those type of apps rely on accelerometers in the phone or tablet. In a banked turn, it would keep showing level even if the plane isn’t.
@@yakacm that, you cannot, the whole point is G-Forces in a moving aircraft make it impossible to tell which way is up
Well done , I’m not a pilot , don’t even like to fly , but I was able to understand your presentation.
I too am just a groundhog.
'subscribe' livery is amusing/inventive touch.
If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, period, and not "might work later", daaamn
The failure to practice partial panel was deadly. That's a basic skill that instrument students all learn.
Another solid video! Thanks for your good work😃👍
Sad outcome... I have flown many times under partial panel conditions, both in the simulator and in real life situations, and even I as a hobby pilot was well enough trained to fly IFR procedures that way. It is sad to see that professional pilots are not.
I used Foreflight for years. It is one thing every pilot should have, and almost all pilots have now, especially 135/charter and corporate pilots.
Can you double check the statement about displaying pitch and roll? I find that claim very suspicious.
@@luc4662
Right, does not actually show pitch and roll. What it does show is altitude and change of heading.
@@mikestone9129 Thanks, that made sense. Looks like the video's author misunderstood what this app (and an iPad) can do.
Faulty instrument:
Mechanics: Maybe if we put it in timeout for a bit, it will learn to behave.
This is why I bought a Garmin watch it can be used as a back instruments but my iPad also has foreflight which can get you out of some situations but by far the garmin watch can be a life saver with the garmin app
I am not an aviator and never have been but such is the quality of insight and education one receives from watching countless episodes on this channel, one eventually starts to feel somewhat qualified - or at least to offer reasonable, general opinions!
In this case, the cliché of "assume makes an ass out of u and me" could not possibly be more true, relevant and, unfortunately, the origin of such horrific consequences. Irrespective of "blame" in the event lives are lost, I always tale a moment to consider those sparks extinguished - the chapters where that happens are not my favourite. That being said, there is a reason why investigations take place. It can involve an element of pointing the finger - while unusual, it is not inconceivable that actors within the scenario, whether pilots, airlines or mechanics - act with deliberate, unconscionable, criminal negligence or purpose - but I would contend that those darker forces are less often at work compared to the unfortunate alignment of the holes in the Swiss cheese slices - while it can, of course be argued, depending on the attitude one wants to take, that it was very clear cut on this occasion - the captain made the illegal decision to fly knowing that an instrument specifically listed on the MEL was out of commission - if any one of us put ourselves in that exact position, including the fact the same guy had flown the same plane before with the same issue - AND had heard the chit-chat in the pilots' Common Room that others had done the same - how many of us can truly say we wouldn't have ended up doing the same. Whilst in absolute black and white terms it was the captain's fault, if our roles were reversed it would be him writing his opinion on social media and me lying there squished into the ground feeding the roots of trees in a Canadian forest. Let's face it, there isn't much new that can be learned from this - the requirement for that instrument to be functional were already understood along with the acceptable, and unacceptable, alternative. Those things have not been realised consequentially to this accident. All it does is underline the infinitely minute - and infinite number of - judgements a pilot makes, rightly or wrongly and the number of times they "get away with it". This margin of error has always existed and no amount of redundancy, checks and balances, training, experience and regulation will ever completely expunge it. It's called being human.
As my train engineeer friend once told me, "There is a body buried somewhere for every rule in the book.". Don't ignore the rules.
Brilliant video.. keep them coming
Thanks for yet another great video
Good job, Mini. Edit: Love the "Subscribe" on the plane.😉
Should say `SubscribeD`
"The next time you're in an emergency there's an app for that." 😂 👍✌️
Great video and great slewing into your parking spot in the beginning lol not like I can do better
I love your videos btw
excellent example of normalization of deviance. The pilots had become numbed to equipment being sketchy, but managed to get lucky and have something work well enough that they got back on the ground safely to do it again. 1 attitude indicator out means that if they lose the other in IMC, they're not likely to survive. If that was handled appropriately, the PIC knows that (and also that his other indicator isn't proper type to permit operation and puts the plane on the ground). If it is proper type, the pilot is ready-proficient in partial panel skills, knows what alternate equipment (ipad+forefront), reviews with crew strategies to deal with the failure. Instead, this captain hoped for the best, trusting he'd done this before and the equipment had finally worked. Or the weather cleared and it didn't matter. This time, all the holes in the cheese aligned and killed them both.
Wow, intense. Thank you!
I can't imagine a pilot of the caliber of this captain being unable to fly partial panel. My instrument instructors had my fly partial panel frequently. I developed a distrust of artificial horizon attitude indicators. We used to say "needle, ball and airspeed" as the basic instruments needed in cloud. The turn indicator "needle" has given way to the "turn coordinator" that gives rate of roll in addition to rate of yaw. Altimeter gives a slight lag of pitch information as does airspeed. Vertical speed indicator is of value for pitch information but the ones in airplanes are not sensitive enough in my opinion. I prefer the variometers in gliders. Faster to respond and more sensitive. Also, my various instrument instructors would have me recover from unusual attitudes by telling me to put my head down and then do some abrupt control inputs, then tell me to look at the instruments and recover to straight and level flight. Almost unbelievable the maintenance people reinstalled a bad attitude indicator 15 times! Not worth 2 crew, plane & cargo!
Even though I fly glass cockpits now, I still keep foreflight close at hand in my ipad and iphone. Altitude plus vertical speed my fellow pilots. Love you all and stay sharp, and safe
Awesome video!
A component that repeatedly fails should be retired, Especially if it's a vital one like the AH.
"The third time is enemu action", never minf 15th.
👉🏻 Natively, ForeFlight will NOT give you the aircraft’s attitude information. There would have to be an external device that provides AHRS (attitude and heading reference system) data. Typically, these portable devices are mounted on a window or on top of the instrument panel.
Having said that, if the airplane had Garmin avionics (including FlightStream 210/510), then ForeFlight can connect to the panel and (on some systems) provide AHRS data to ForeFlight.
Excellent video!😸
I like how the plane says "Subscribe" on the side, nice touch ;)
I have Foreflight, but not the paid version, since food tends to be a priority for me. I'm not a pilot, even though I do know how to fly a plane and have flown one before (with a licensed pilot). I have a lot of apps that use the gyro inside my device for things. It's useful stuff and stuff that did not exist when I was a kid, at least not for non-aviation civilian purposes. I'm actually not even sure that GPS had been released to civilian aviation at that point.
“There’s an app for that.” 😂
0:03 well it was obvious that this would result in an accident from the start, with the pilots making sick drifts on the tarmac
Lmao
Excellent video...i have just finished building a model of the Beechcraft Super kingair 200.
Did the turn coordinator fail too? Between it and vertical speed indicator one should be able to manage without artificial horizon in a pinch.
Good point. First thing is make sure wings are level using turn coordinator. Then check vsi and altimeter and keep a steady altitude. What a shame
The most rewarding flight I ever flew in training was limited panel VMC - real seat of the pants stuff to navigate to destination and land safely. The same applies with IMC - partial panel practice is essential.
I like the subliminal message on the computer graphics of the Beechcraft saying 'SUBSCRIBE!'
I did some experiments and found this works if you lose your horizon. It will only work for a cloud break. There can be absolutely no turning while IMC.
Set yourself up in a descent on a heading. The DG is a very sensitive instrument to show initial roll. If you maintain your HDG precisely, you will remain level.
Only do this if you do not have the app and were stupid enough to go this far.
It says “subscribe” on the fuselage… I see what you are doing there, haha 😂
The pilot fell apart and lost control amazingly fast. They had no time to get a phone out and an app going. Terrible skills maintenance by that pilot. I bet he was still doing rudder inputs all the way down.
I like your registration number 😆
I’m not a pilot, I’ve never even been in a cockpit before, but expecting any issue to “figure itself out” seems to be incredibly negligent
Foreflight should sponsor you! I was about to congratulate you
Always crazy to me how pilots in these accidents,,don't think flying totally blind in clouds at night. Isn't a big deal!!✌ crazy
I’m planning a road trip to Yellowknife. 😊
I use Foreflihht extensively, it’s phenomenal.
I do use Foreflight, but I'm wondering if they had a Sentry or similar device - the AHRS on Foreflight doesn't work without an ADS-B receiver that specifically supports AHRS.
Great content though RIP to the pilots.
Could the app have worked though? Phone accelerometers/gyroscopes aren't really meant for flying and they can suffer the same issues as a pilot in a bank since they rely on whatever the apparent gravity is to work. You can actually test it out the next time you're a passenger on a plane; they're just not really reliable for that. The app may have told the pilots that "yep, you're level" while they were actually in a steep bank.
I would assume you can only get deceptive apparent gravity in a bank if you are ALSO in a turn, no? And any of the virtual or physical compasses should have readily picked that up, I presume.
I don't understand how a malfunctioning attitude indicator could cause a pilot to lose control. I have flown under a hood (my vision to the outside of the plane blocked) more than once in training. I was taught that if I scan the altimeter and the direction indicator I would know if I was flying straight. If the direction indicator is moving I am turning, if the altimeter is moving I am descending or climbing. I can also scan the turn/slip indicator for wings level if necessary and the vertical speed indicator to confirm my rate of climb or descent. The attitude indicator is only one of the instruments in the "six pack". All pilots are trained to fly with a malfunctioning instrument.
I'm sure in those 40 seconds you could've reached into your bag, found the ipad, started the app and made any necessary configurations.
A lot of confusion about apps and plumb lines and flying. They all react to g-forces, they can only show which way is down if gravity from the earth is the only force acting on them. As soon as you add the movement of the plane, all bets are off. Just the same as something hanging from the mirror in a car, it doesn't show down when you brake or corner.
I believe the electronic solution is a ring laser gyro, and no tablet has that!
ForeFlight is great. I never fly without it up and running on a 12” iPad.
There should be 3 ADIs. One for Captain; one for copilot, and one smaller back-up. Also, you can fly without ADI in an emergency. Use Turn and bank, rate of climb and descent, gyro compass, altimeter, rev counter.... This type of thing MUST be practised again and again, so when it DOES happen, it is not a problem. You have to WORK at flying or you die if you do it long enough. CAVU skies!
The foreflight attitude indicator is only available in the more expensive version, not everyone may have the money to get the artificial horizon.
All you need is a gyroscope, there's one in the phone, you can get free apps to get the gyroscope info. But I wonder if the reason for the left ADI to fail was a strong magnetic field which would've influenced the iPad as well.
Could an app with a spirit level be any use in a situation like this? In desperation, that's what I would have tried.
An MEL tells you what can be broken on the plane and it still be airworthy by the regs. It's not the minimum number of things you need to go flying
And by the way, it sounds like 4-Flight SHOULD be sponsoring you!! Although it's great you're not bound to only reporting incidents where that app was involved - and if ever you're under pressure, you can at least point to this citation as evidence that your audience appreciates the impartiality even if we recognise you have to earn a living 😄😎
MINI!!!
@Gute Wasser YES!
Would they really have the connectivity to use an app way out there? I'm really wondering--like, do pilots have a special satellite phone connection?
did you leave out the part that they flew into clouds with no visibility?
Such a tragedy. I’ve met folks at Tindi over the years who seemed like they cared about running a good outfit. All the more reason to take a deep dive on decision making, both in the maintenance dept and chief pilot’s office.
Good people can get sucked in just like the cowboys can when it comes to the gradual but persistent normalization of unacceptable risk. The worst thing is to get lucky enough times in a row that you forget what the stakes are.
When the plan gets to wait and give a critical instrument a “couple of taps” after you’ve left the ground, there’s a problem that requires a serious safety culture 360.
non-pilot here. IMO they probably would have managed in a simulator environment- slightly less stressful. The turn co-ordinator, (difference power source) + the Vertical Speed should have helped them. But hindsight is easy. RIP
"Then, at 9:11am, the captain's attitude indicator....it had failed..." So, coincidentally, the remaining one quits too? at 9:11am? We live in a CLOWN universe.
See my answer to August, down below here. And btw nice done "subscribe" on the sim plane. Cool sim!
Always wondered how accurate the airports are in Flight Simulator, judging how they have show Yellowknife, I think the answer is not very. I was a big fan of Ice Pilots so know Yellowknife airport pretty well, and it don't look like that. Yellowknife is a pretty decent sized city, which doesn't seem to be shown in Flight Sim at all.
@Gute Wasser vielen danke. I only out hi as a place holder to spoil the fun of the folk who like to put 1st, when they are the 1st to comment on a video, yes I know I'm petty, lol.
It depends which flight simulator, there are quite a few.
Usually flight simulators will automatically generate most airports, and then add some detailed stuff by hand.
You can also buy addons for certain airports.
You can download airports you care about, at least for FSX/P3D, but pretty sure for the MFS2020 too. By default I don't think they are all that accurate.
Xplane is better.
@@jort93z Yeah, it's only a minor airport so I can see that it's not going to be an exact replica. I think he uses MS Flight Sim 2020 in his videos?
The APP needs an external source to guestimate the attitude.
#24👍🤔🤷Bad day!!
They should never have left the ground. Is there an app for that?
I'm surprised that no one noticed the plane's registration shows "subscribe"
They’re flying IFR but a backup attitude indicator is not required by the Canadian regs (CARS 605.18). The operator’s own MEL could be more conservative. Not sure where you got the air/electric distinction but am curious.
You referenced the TSB report. Nice. But not quite right. The operators MEL says if an electric Altimeter is installed you require a functioning pneumatic attitude indicator. The type of AI on the left doesn’t determine the type of AI required on the right. It’s the altimeter that matters. Strange quirk of the King Air and their specific avionics choices.
Many smartphones have artificial horizon apps. Should work even for emergency flying?
Honestly! The thing had already failed 15 times and they didn't throw it out? That's got to be criminal negligence.
Foreflight + Sentry is something I plan to buy for myself once I start flying IFR. Even if the aircraft I hire have a G1000nxi, foreflight is a great & cheap independent backup.
♥️
A compus would show the heading is changing.
An iPad does not have a high precision gyroscope. In that sense it is no better than a slip indicator. In coordinated turn, the iPad will show that it is level.
Maybe the iPad had an external IMU attached or connected to it?
A likely explanation is that neither pilot was trained to use foreflight in this way.
I religiously use ForeFlight lol it’s such a good thing to expand your situational awareness
Fly Bufallo Joe!
You talked about them not practicing things in 'decades'
Boomers by nature don't think about iPads and apps, especially in emergencies.
This might be a stupid question, but hasn't the auto pilot a gyro on its own and wouldn't it be a viable option to enable the auto pilot when the plane wasn't out of control yet?
The autopilot on older aircraft is analog based and relies on input from the attitude indicator, it's sensor and gyro. If the AI fails, the autopilot will become inoperative. Newer digital systems are more reliable.
So the Canucks do not teach "needle ball airspeed"?
Would an app be able to show a correct attitude in an accelerated environment?
IMPACT is not a verb!!!
Didn't they try to analyze the left attitude indicator- couldn't they work out how it failed?
Captain made a terrible decision in flying with a broken flight instrument.
So what exactly is the "partial panel technique?"
There is a certain amount of redundancy in the instruments. If the artificial horizon is not working, the turn coordinator or rate of turn indicator can be used to determine bank. The vertical speed indicator and altimeter can indicate pitch. These can be used in a pinch to get back on the ground safely, if you're proficient in partial panel flying. It seems these pilots were not.
The airplane has a lot of instruments.
Some of these instruments are quite polished instruments, that are easy to read by the pilots, as for instance the artificial horizon, which quickly tells the pilot the attitude of the outside horizon (and thus the attitude of the aircraft), even when the outside (real-world) horizon can't be seen visually (say in clouds).
Other instruments are more rudimentary in nature, like a "turn and bank coordinator" instrument, which can help the pilot maintain wings level, but are not suitable for more 'aggressive' manoeuvres.
If you have both kinds of instruments working, which is by far the usual state of affairs, you are going to pay attention to the polished instruments for most of the time. If you are forced to use the rudimentary set of instruments only, you are said to be flying "partial panel".
I don't know how these things go nowadays, but years ago you could occasionally hear Air Traffic Control help planes in this kind of 'trouble' to approach and land at aerodromes, by giving 'simpler' instructions, such as "turn left heading 340, its a 20 second turn; turn rate one on my command; NOW.", "stop turning on my command; NOW" and so on. I suspect backup instrumentation is much better now (and more reliable as well). For instance a GPS ground track course is at least as helpful as a wet compass bobbing about in most situations.
No time to be messing around with apps, in this case, I suspect
NEITHER of the two pilots ...
If your attitude indicator is not erect for more than 4 hours, consult an engineer immediately
This is why I am not a pilot. So many things to consider. Too little time to consider it.
If my wife "need" me and I'm not in the mood I also use an app. Quite convenient - there are lifesaving apps for anything and everything.
While Foreflight, with attitude information, could have possibly helped them, good partial-panel skills would have been much more practical. I've felt the effects of inner-ear illusions first-hand in my Instrument Training, and though I've never become outright disoriented, it is IMPOSSIBLE to tell if you're straight-and-level or in a 150 degree bank without some reference to the horizon.
Partial Panel flying is so difficult because the pitch and bank information we get from the turn indicator and VSI is incomplete. Really, they give us raw data that we have to analyze ourselves to determine what's going on, and the attitude indicator is like looking at a graph of that data. You also have to divide your attention between two instruments on opposite sides of the panel, so it is easy to fixate on one, let the other deteriorate, and loose control trying to recover.