Lost Comms. in IMC

Good to know. I think even the FCC would be hard pressed to bring any fines against you for essentially doing what you needed to do to save the aircraft and your passenger's lives (or yourself).
 
I lost coms going into IWA, and called the tower for my landing clearance over the phone. It was very hard to hear, but it worked.

Just don't let the FCC get involved. I haven't seen a case where it was breaking the FAR's, but I do know it breaks the FCC's rules.

I could just see IWAs initial thought..."Yeah, right.....Hey buddy, this is an offical air traffic facility and hindering with the perfomance of this facility is a federal crime, ......we have a NORDO aircraft we're attempting to recover, and you'll be arrested if you interfere. Don't call here again!" :D
 
In the real world, I always have a handheld radio in my headset bag. Worst case, another A/C will pick it up and relay to ATC. And whoever I'm flying with usually has one too. The odds of 4 radios dying at the same time are pretty slim. ATC losing their radio (they have a backup transmitter) is probably more likely.

If there is VFR weather nearby, odds are I would elect to get VMC ASAP if fuel allowed.


Maybe not. My facility we have Main/Standbys for every freq which are powered/transmitted/recieved by separate equpment. Couple with that we have tunable emergency radios which have 10 separate transmiter/recievers to choose from all at different locations in the area (VORs, airports ect.) which are powered separately and lines run independantly. If you can receive we can reach you.
 
Losing communications is probably every pilots worst nightmare, especially in IMC conditions.

SRSLY? Yeah, right behind in flight fire, structural failure, midair, running out of gas, being forced to poop in a bag, no catering...

Squawk 7600, fly to clearance limit, shoot the approach, have some popcorn. The hard part is telling your boss they have to send you another plane and the dog-doo is going to be late.
 
I don't know if it is necissarily a substitute for a handheld device, but I have heard of at least one instance where a guy contacted ATC following comm loss on his cell phone and proceded from there. I have accidentally left my phone on a number of times in the cockpit and am normally greeted upon unstrapping with a dead battery from the constant signal hunting, but I assume it could work for at least a short period of time in an emergency. Thoughts?

The tower manager I talked to said that is ok to do. Now in flight, at an unfamiliar airport, how are you gong to find their number in IMC?
 
Good point, and not likely. You could probably call the operator/411/someone you know but of course that is wasting a lot of time. I say this only as an option situation/time permitting. Of course you wouldn't want to sacrifice basic airwork and navigation for the sake of trying this out, as that is what your clearance/flightplan/etc are for.
 
I could just see IWAs initial thought..."Yeah, right.....Hey buddy, this is an offical air traffic facility and hindering with the perfomance of this facility is a federal crime, ......we have a NORDO aircraft we're attempting to recover, and you'll be arrested if you interfere. Don't call here again!" :D

:confused: ??NORDO?? Actually Ed, the ATC manager there insists that when the students get a towet tour, that we all put the number into our cell phones. Atleast thats what happened when I was there.
 
:confused: ??NORDO?? Actually Ed, the ATC manager there insists that when the students get a towet tour, that we all put the number into our cell phones. Atleast thats what happened when I was there.

NORDO = No Radio, ATC terminology for an 7600 aircraft.

You didn't even like my joke........:( :D
 
NORDO = No Radio, ATC terminology for an 7600 aircraft.

You didn't even like my joke........:( :D

Sorry, but it only says "Be able to read, speak, write, and understand the English language." It says no where about being smart:crazy:.

But I get it now that I know waht NORDO means. Didn't quite LOL, but it did put a smile over here.:D
 
Good point, and not likely. You could probably call the operator/411/someone you know but of course that is wasting a lot of time.

You could try your local, friendly Lock-Mart facility at 800-WX-BRIEF if all you had was a cell phone - if nothing else, they could provide a phone number for the nearest ATC facility. But that would definitely be my last resort...frankly they used to always mess up my flight plans, so I can't imagine how they would butcher an IMC NORDO situation!
 
In this day and age of navcom radios, unless your antennae breaks off, if you lose your coms, you lose the nav side too. Garmin 4/500s, KX155s, even the ol' ARC/Sperrys are all one box. The AVEF might not work.

When I lost my coms, et al, in IMC, it was a total electrical failure. The battery shorted (I think -- it's been awhile) and everything was gone.

Get briefed on the nearest VFR and/or carry a gps.
 
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Got one for college graduation. Best gift ever.
 
While we're on the subject.

(from 91.185)
"If the clearance limit is not a fix from which an approach begins, leave the clearance limit at the expect-further-clearance time if one has been received, or if none has been received, upon arrival over the clearance limit, and proceed to a fix from which an approach begins and commence descent or descent and approach as close as possible to the estimated time of arrival as calculated from the filed or amended (with ATC) estimated time en route".

If you lose comms after leveling off at FL280, you'll have to remain at that altitude until you reach a fix from where an approach begins? That just seems a little crazy to me. I would think it would make more sense to follow the altitudes on the STAR.

Any thoughts on this?
 
Mini hijack but what would be the specs to look for if I wanted tobuy a handheld? I mean there's got to be some reason for price differentiation. If a radio is a radio is a radio doesn't make sense to spend more, but if a more expensive one would be more reliable etc then I could see that.
 
call your local ATC facility on your cell phone. They should be able to get the number you want (even if the ATC facility is hundreds of miles away). Give em' a call and be done. Easy enough. Cell phones make things easy... don't over complicate this.
 
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