Narrative:

I was the pilot flying. We were at cruise at FL260 getting ready to start our descent when we received a '#1 engine fadec fail' light and then the #1 engine proceeded to basically shutdown within seconds. After absorbing what was happening so quickly; I disengaged the autopilot and stabilized the aircraft as it was yawing. My first officer quickly sprang into action and declared an emergency and identified the problem and asked me if I was ready for the #1 engine shutdown memory items and I said yes. We started an immediate descent. We secured the engine via memory items and then re-engaged the autopilot and I called for the QRH. My first officer ran the QRH items and I continued to fly the aircraft and talk to ATC. After completing the QRH; I instructed him to talk to the flight attendants and the passengers. ATC cleared us direct to the airport and the expect a visual. We continued to prepare for the arrival and told them to have the equipment standing by. My first officer continued with the QRH and modified in range and approach checklists on the QRH. After completion; I transferred controls to him and talked to maintenance and dispatch on the radio and advised of our problem and intentions. They concurred. Approach vectored us for the visual and we intercepted the localizer and glideslope to track it to the runway. During the approach; the glideslope failed and we had a red X on our screen and the aircraft reverted to pitch mode on the command mode annunciator and started to drop below the VASI. At this time; I disengaged the autopilot and hand flew it the rest of the approach. This situation caused me to have to configure to final flap setting later than planned at around 800 ft AGL; because I did not want to get in a situation of having to go around single engine. The approach continued and we landed without incident and rolled off of the runway and took the second high speed taxiway and brought the aircraft to a stop just off of the runway. The fire trucks surrounded us; and there was no fire; so one did stand by while we were waiting for company to come out and tow us to the gate. I advised the passengers while we were waiting of the situation and thanked them for their patience. After about 20 minutes; the tractor showed up to tow us to the gate. I was very fortunate to have a strong first officer who really helped in a tough situation. I was also very fortunate to have excellent flight attendants who handled everything like professionals. When I instructed the flight attendants to prepare for an emergency landing I started having problems with the interphone cutting out and was having a problem communicating with them. After the second time; I instructed the first officer to tell them on his side. Configuring as late as I did with final flaps was non-standard but sometimes you have to think outside of the box and do what is necessary in this specific situation. The simulator is the simulator and real life is exactly that; real; it really matters right now and you have to make it work. Looking back upon it; you always wonder what you could have done better or different; but no one is perfect and you hope you learn from this if it would happen again. There are always ways to improve upon your performance or actions. I keep asking myself; 'did I miss anything?' 'did I do anything wrong that I did not realize?' remaining calm; a little common sense and remembering what you have learned in training gets you through situations like these.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Q400 Captain experienced FADEC failure at top of descent and almost immediate engine failure. Engine was secured and an emergency declared a safe landing ensued at their destination.

Narrative: I was the pilot flying. We were at cruise at FL260 getting ready to start our descent when we received a '#1 ENG FADEC FAIL' light and then the #1 engine proceeded to basically shutdown within seconds. After absorbing what was happening so quickly; I disengaged the autopilot and stabilized the aircraft as it was yawing. My First Officer quickly sprang into action and declared an emergency and identified the problem and asked me if I was ready for the #1 engine shutdown memory items and I said yes. We started an immediate descent. We secured the engine via memory items and then re-engaged the autopilot and I called for the QRH. My First Officer ran the QRH items and I continued to fly the aircraft and talk to ATC. After completing the QRH; I instructed him to talk to the flight attendants and the passengers. ATC cleared us direct to the airport and the expect a visual. We continued to prepare for the arrival and told them to have the equipment standing by. My First Officer continued with the QRH and modified in range and approach checklists on the QRH. After completion; I transferred controls to him and talked to Maintenance and Dispatch on the radio and advised of our problem and intentions. They concurred. Approach vectored us for the visual and we intercepted the localizer and glideslope to track it to the runway. During the approach; the glideslope failed and we had a red X on our screen and the aircraft reverted to pitch mode on the command mode annunciator and started to drop below the VASI. At this time; I disengaged the autopilot and hand flew it the rest of the approach. This situation caused me to have to configure to final flap setting later than planned at around 800 FT AGL; because I did not want to get in a situation of having to go around single engine. The approach continued and we landed without incident and rolled off of the runway and took the second high speed taxiway and brought the aircraft to a stop just off of the runway. The fire trucks surrounded us; and there was no fire; so one did stand by while we were waiting for company to come out and tow us to the gate. I advised the passengers while we were waiting of the situation and thanked them for their patience. After about 20 minutes; the tractor showed up to tow us to the gate. I was very fortunate to have a strong First Officer who really helped in a tough situation. I was also very fortunate to have excellent flight attendants who handled everything like professionals. When I instructed the flight attendants to prepare for an emergency landing I started having problems with the interphone cutting out and was having a problem communicating with them. After the second time; I instructed the First Officer to tell them on his side. Configuring as late as I did with final flaps was non-standard but sometimes you have to think outside of the box and do what is necessary in this specific situation. The simulator is the simulator and real life is exactly that; real; it really matters right now and you have to make it work. Looking back upon it; you always wonder what you could have done better or different; but no one is perfect and you hope you learn from this if it would happen again. There are always ways to improve upon your performance or actions. I keep asking myself; 'Did I miss anything?' 'Did I do anything wrong that I did not realize?' Remaining calm; a little common sense and remembering what you have learned in training gets you through situations like these.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.