Declaring an emergency

[Planegary]

I am just wondering how much flaps the moose uses for takeoff

[1964-M20E]

Well I just got a call from the FAA about this.  

You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law, you have the right to an attorney if you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed for you.

No big deal he just wanted a pilot statement of what happened. 

However, he did say I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

 

[Ibra]

Great all turned up non-event, yes there are no right/wrong !

If in doubt just declare mayday and cancel it when you are at 1nm final with runway lights in sight 

The alternative definition is mayday = life threatening situation: but hey no one knows that before hand 

You may have to fill up some forms for someone in some office (my last one was explaining that ice may form & melt away depending on temperature & sun exposure) 

[midlifeflyer]

On 1/22/2021 at 3:59 PM, 1964-M20E said:

Well I just got a call from the FAA about this.  

****

No big deal he just wanted a pilot statement of what happened. 

However, he did say I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

 

Sounds typical.

[Ross Statham]

On 1/3/2021 at 7:31 AM, Tim Jodice said:

I had a gyro failure in IMC and declared an emergency everything went well. I was met by airport operations the asked me basic questions like who I was, who owned the airplane. That was it, no call from the FAA.

Same here, flying a borrowed PA-28 back from Tampa with a passenger while mine was in the shop.  Landed at Tallahassee with fire trucks watching, followed by the same basic questions described above.  Would do it again without hesitation.  

No indication until the GPS started acting squirrelly, then I saw the low bus volts. Clear VMC day on an instrument flight plan.  Later determined to be a loose connection at the voltage regulator.  

[jlunseth]

Many of us have had to do this. It is a little like a teenager having their first auto accident. One, it makes you more careful about pre-flight, maintenance, and the general condition of your aircraft. Makes you think hard about single points of failure in your systems, even those not involved in the first incident. Two, it makes you braver, you have done it before, know how it works, are less hesitant to declare the next time, if there is a next time, and more likely to fly the plane. Probably we all tend to think it cannot happen to me until it does, and then you are very grateful for good training and good instructors.

[GeeBee]

Too many pilots do not declare an emergency when they need to do so. Declaring an emergency gets you the resources you need and if in contact with ATC, their undivided attention and all their resources. Concern about paperwork, the FAA etc should not be a consideration. Your job is resource management and declaring an emergency frees up a lot of resources.

 

[RJBrown]

IFR out of Jackson Hole for Spokane and over Rexburg Idaho I lost the alternator in my Rocket. March of 1996. Told center I had an electrical problem and would let him know after I checked it out. When I hit the breaker reset I heard an arc sound and it threw my finger back off the breaker. Dead short in the circuit. Turned off all unnecessary equipment and reported back. I was above a solid cloud deck but in VFR conditions. I ask for the closest VFR airport and did not get a good answer. He tried to send me to Kalispell Montana. But when I ask if it was VFR he said no. I told him I would prefer to continue enroute he agreed. I had 2 six month old batteries installed, a handheld VOR/Com radio and a battery powered GPS so I was not worried about continued flight but did not want an IFR approach. When I got to Lewiston Idaho I could see the airport, officially conditions were broken. I canceled and landed VFR. No Emergency existed just extra caution. Rocket brought an alternator and a AP out and we flew back to Spokane together. 
 No follow up from the FAA at all. If I had continued to my destination they might have questioned my decision. I landed at the first VFR airport I came to.

Lewiston was officially “broken” skies so the controller could not give me a visual but I could see the airport clearly and could judge that a VFR landing was safe.

Without declaring an emergency I had to follow the controller. Fortunately he agreed with my recommendations. A controller will tend to defer to your judgement if it sounds reasonable to him.
Declaring an emergency makes you #1 on his priority. You are still the PIC he will, within reason, give you everything he can.  You can still say “unable” to any control YOU deem not in your best interest. 
A year or so earlier before the plane was converted to a Rocket I was IFR 22,000 ft between Pueblo and Colorado Springs and developed intake icing and associated loss of power in what was then a stock 231. I was already essentially on the ILS to Centennial. He tried to turn me towards Falcon VOR and I said unable, explained the problem and ask for a direct clearance to Centennial via direct ILS 35 right. He gave me a decent as needed clearance and direct Centennial heading. He then checked with approach and got me the ILS clearance. As I dropped out of the clouds things melted and power returned. I informed approach of that and landed normally. 
Again no emergency and no follow up. If he had refused I could have declared and got what I wanted. Then there would have been some follow up. By not declaring an emergency I did not increase the workload of center. We worked together for a good outcome. Declaring an emergency is our right as the PIC. But if we declare it can affect others in significant ways. 
Both of these incidents happened in low workload environments which made it easier for both of us to take a wait and see attitude. Had I declared into Centennial it might have essentially closed the airport to any other IFR traffic while I was still 60+ nautical mile out and unnecessarily added to the workload for both controllers and airport personnel and would have inconvenienced other pilots.

In the above case he ask if you wanted to declare. That is kind of a hint that that is the quickest and easiest way for him to get you on the ground. If you are ever ask if you want to declare you better have a good reason to say no. Conversely if after relaying your problem he does not ask if you want to declare and simply asks what you want you should have a good reason to declare. In neither case above was I ask “do you want to declare an emergency”

How the controller responds can help you to help him to help you.

Open communication is always best. Controllers really are there to keep us safe and are generally really good people doing a demanding job.

Edited February 1, 2021 by RJBrown

[toto]

43 minutes ago, RJBrown said:

Open communication is always best. Controllers really are there to keep us safe and are generally really good people doing a demanding job.

+1

Over the years, I've had three different situations where I lost electrical power while on an instrument clearance, but VMC above a layer.  In all three cases, I was near enough to SKC conditions that I elected to divert to an uneventful landing at a nearby airport.  Each of the three cases played out essentially the same way:  When rolling in to the FBO at a small uncontrolled field, a guy came running out holding a phone and saying "FAA would like to talk to you."  In all three cases, the controller on the phone was awesome and understanding.  I explained what happened, case closed.

The first two of these happened more than a decade ago and I don't remember the phone conversation in much detail, but the most recent was about 18 months ago.  I had a longish conversation with the controller this time, really just out of curiosity, and we talked through the process on his end.  He explained that when they see a lost comms aircraft divert, they essentially declare an emergency on the pilot's behalf, and a controller takes responsibility for the aircraft until it has arrived somewhere and the controller has spoken to the pilot.  There's a certain amount of paperwork involved on the controller's end, but basically "total electrical failure, pilot proceeded to nearest airport for uneventful landing VMC" is an acceptable statement for the report.

I know that having a phone call with the FAA really freaks people out, but I've had absolutely nothing but positive experiences with controllers in these circumstances.  Professional to a one, and concerned only about safe outcomes for all.

[steingar]

I took off at night to pick up my tortoise Nameless.  I notice the voltage was only 11.3 or .4.  Really low, usually 14.  I was alarmed at first, but thought that perhaps the reduced voltage was because of the extra load of the nav lights, landing light and the interior torpedo tubes.  I turned off the torpedo and the voltage crept up.  It didn't change during the flight or the flight back, and has been normal during daytime flights ever since.