Originally Posted by
Pirot
A 2017 King Air 350i has an auto feather switch that per the checklist is turned on before takeoff and left on until cruise. If the switch is on the prop will feather faster than a pilot could manually feather after recognizing the engine failure. I don’t know if the NTSB will be able to tell if the switch was in the off position or if it was on and something failed in the system.
Those can fail. IIRC Auto Fx Armed is typically a TO configuration warning item, but don't know about the KA.
The switch position can likely be determined by inspection. That kind of switch will have an over-center detent so the crash probably wouldn't change it's position.
But both auto and manual Fx with the condition lever can fail, and it's not that uncommon at least on certain types.