Duchess 76 instructor conducting an intentional engine shut down during training when the propeller ...

Narrative:

While conducting a full engine shut down procedure during a training flight in a be-76; I declared an emergency following an unsuccessful attempt to unfeather the propeller on my left engine. At the time of the attempt to unfeather the propeller; we were approximately five miles south/south east from an airport at an altitude of approximately 5;500 ft.my student followed the checklist for the air start procedure. When he rapidly pushed the propeller pitch lever to the full forward position; there was no movement of the propeller. The propeller remained in the full feather position. We attempted a second time but still nothing happened. I noticed that there appeared to be a liquid streak along the inside of the feathered propeller blade. While I had seen this before; this appeared to be more than normal.additionally; I had previously started a partially-feathered engine using the electric starter and was concerned that a completely feathered propeller might produce excessive vibration which could be detrimental to the aircraft. I then decided that the safest course of action was to land immediately; and declared an emergency in accordance with previous company instructions. We returned to land without further incident.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Duchess 76 Instructor conducting an intentional engine shut down during training when the propeller failed to un-feather. Pilot declared an emergency and landed immediately.

Narrative: While conducting a full engine shut down procedure during a training flight in a BE-76; I declared an emergency following an unsuccessful attempt to unfeather the propeller on my left engine. At the time of the attempt to unfeather the propeller; we were approximately five miles south/south east from an airport at an altitude of approximately 5;500 FT.My student followed the checklist for the air start procedure. When he rapidly pushed the propeller pitch lever to the full forward position; there was no movement of the propeller. The propeller remained in the full feather position. We attempted a second time but still nothing happened. I noticed that there appeared to be a liquid streak along the inside of the feathered propeller blade. While I had seen this before; this appeared to be more than normal.Additionally; I had previously started a partially-feathered engine using the electric starter and was concerned that a completely feathered propeller might produce excessive vibration which could be detrimental to the aircraft. I then decided that the safest course of action was to land immediately; and declared an emergency in accordance with previous company instructions. We returned to land without further incident.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1068857
Time
Date	201302
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Duchess 76
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Propeller Pitch Change Mechanism
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 182 Flight Crew Total 909 Flight Crew Type 647
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

Duchess 76 instructor conducting an intentional engine shut down during training when the propeller failed to un-feather. Pilot declared an emergency and landed immediately.