Declared for the first time today

Fixtur

Fixtur

Dunning-Kruger Expert
Flying down to West Virginia fire a memorial service for my uncle.

About a half hour after a fuel stop the left engine hiccups twice and stops making power. Secure the engine, declare the emergency and get an IFR clearance and vectors for the SE approach and landing into the nearest airport.

Wrangled, by hook and crook, a rental car for the 7 hour drive back to CT. We'll deal with the airplane next week.

Fix
 
A non-event as far as the declaration goes with ATC; unlike many pilots who have this severe hesitancy or even a fear of ever using the emergency word to ATC. Either needs to be dragged out of them, often too late for ATC to assist, or worse, ATC declares for them.
 
Fixtur said:
Flying down to West Virginia fire a memorial service for my uncle.

About a half hour after a fuel stop the left engine hiccups twice and stops making power. Secure the engine, declare the emergency and get an IFR clearance and vectors for the SE approach and landing into the nearest airport.

Wrangled, by hook and crook, a rental car for the 7 hour drive back to CT. We'll deal with the airplane next week.

Fix
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Which airplane?

Everybody else seems to be landing on highways a lot lately.
 
MikeD said:
A non-event as far as the declaration goes with ATC; unlike many pilots who have this severe hesitancy or even a fear of ever using the emergency word to ATC. Either needs to be dragged out of them, often too late for ATC to assist, or worse, ATC declares for them.
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I have declared twice so far in my career. The only drawback was the paperwork. Considering possible alternatives the paperwork is nothing. ATC is literally the easiest part of the situation and can be a great help.
 
Maurus said:
I have declared twice so far in my career. The only drawback was the paperwork. Considering possible alternatives the paperwork is nothing. ATC is literally the easiest part of the situation and can be a great help.
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I'm glad you made the right choice. Paperwork is just that, paperwork, it's not the same as hauling 2 tons of ice into a self created ditch. I'm sure your family is happy, discretion is the better part of valor.
 
Maurus said:
I have declared twice so far in my career. The only drawback was the paperwork. Considering possible alternatives the paperwork is nothing. ATC is literally the easiest part of the situation and can be a great help.
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Declared a lot more than 2 times and never had paperwork.
 
DropTank said:
Declared a lot more than 2 times and never had paperwork.
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Two for me as well. Biggest one was partial engine failure in a piston single in the clouds over the Rockies. Closest thing to paperwork for me was a friendly conversation with an ASI. ATC, however had a lot of paperwork to do.

The most paperwork I’ve seen for a pilot was a cargo jet that had a flame out. In that case, it was because the pilot didn’t declare the emergency. Ended up hiring me to defend the enforcement action for violating 91.123. That definitely involved paperwork.
 
Wardogg said:
And yet the FAA wanted to talk to me because I aborted a takeoff in PUB at less than 10kts for a waring bell. *shrug*
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I’ve been talked to by the FAA, it just wasn’t for declaring an emergency! LOL!

Is less than 10kts even an abort? To me that’s getting back on the brakes after releasing them.
 
I’ve told the story before and I’ll tell the story again. The only fatality I’ve had was someone who hemmed and hawed about declaring emergency and seemed to downplay their situation until it was too late. Went into the trees less than a mile short of the runway. I think he didn’t want to declare because he ran out of gas. He also wasn’t wearing his shoulder harness and died from blunt force trauma from his head hitting the instrument panel, so if you got one of those use it.
 
Wardogg said:
And yet the FAA wanted to talk to me because I aborted a takeoff in PUB at less than 10kts for a waring bell. *shrug*
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Happened to me too at SBA. Slow enough we were able to exit at the first taxiway, go to the pad, run some checks, and launch again (this time successfully). Get back to base and the DO had already gotten a call from the FSDO.

Fix
 
Wardogg said:
And yet the FAA wanted to talk to me because I aborted a takeoff in PUB at less than 10kts for a waring bell. *shrug*
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We got a memo about a year ago pertaining to this. Under some strange interpretation, any time an aircraft takes the runway and gets a takeoff clearance and them elects to leave the runway, it's a required reportable event to the FAA. We now have to make a logbook entry as and info to the company item so they can pass it along to the FAA. The examples we were given were RTOs and getting a takeoff clearances and then getting lined up to make a radar sweep of weather and electing not to go.
 
I had a throttle cable snag in a Baron at the top of the climb, keeping power near 100%, so I needed to return to base 50 miles away and lose around 8,000’ while keeping it below redline, and prepare for a VMC S/E approach & landing. No big deal. But every controller after the handoff would verify radar contact and ask, “Are you declaring an emergency?” No. After three of four times of this I began questioning myself. I never declared and the landing was uneventful, but when EVERY controller’s first question is “are you declaring an emergency,” it makes you wonder if you should.
 
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