Aero-Tips!
A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard
this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer
statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of
"there are no old, bold pilots.") It's part of what makes aviation
so exciting for all of us... just when you think you've seen it
all, along comes a scenario you've never imagined.
Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner,
master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us
-- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators, and as
representatives of the flying community. Some of them, you may have
heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we
might never have considered before, or something that didn't
"stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for
the practical test.
It is our unabashed goal that "Aero-Tips" will help our readers
become better, safer pilots -- as well as introducing our
ground-bound readers to the concepts and principles that keep those
strange aluminum-and-composite contraptions in the air... and allow
them to soar magnificently through it.
Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you
through the Aero-News Network. Suggestions for future Aero-Tips are
always welcome, as are additions or discussion of each day's tips.
Remember... when it comes to being better pilots, we're all in this
together.
Aero-Tips 05.01.06
FAR 91.3b makes it
possible. In an in-flight emergency requiring immediate
action, the pilot-in-command may deviate from any rule... to the
extent required to meet that emergency.
A Mayday situation is when an aircraft (or other vehicle) is in
imminent danger and requires immediate assistance. Most rescue
agencies around the world recognize this "code word."
From Wikipedia: The Mayday
callsign was originated in 1923 by Frederick Stanley Mockford.
Whilst senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London, England,
Mockford was asked to think of a word that would indicate distress
and would easily be understood by all pilots and ground staff in an
emergency. Since much of the traffic at the time was between
Croydon and Paris, he proposed the word "Mayday" from the French
m'aidez—literally, "help me."
Although "May Day" gets attention, to ensure you get all the
help you can get you should also use proper terminology and
"declare an emergency."
The most common pilot shortcoming in dealing with an emergency,
in my experience providing scenario-based training, is waiting too
long to acknowledge an actual emergency exists, realigning
decision-making to that reality and asking Air Traffic Control for
help by means of declaring an emergency.
From the Aeronautical Information Manual: If
emergency authority is used to deviate from an ATC clearance, the
pilot-in-command must notify ATC as soon as possible and obtain an
amended clearance. Declaring an emergency permits you to do
whatever you need to meet the emergency. Importantly, it also
allows controllers to deviate from standard procedures and devote
their efforts to seeing you safely to a priority-one landing, or
dispatching rescue forces if otherwise.
Who ya gonna call (or write)?
Back to FAR 91.3: Each pilot in
command who deviates from a rule under paragraph [91.3](b) of this
section shall, upon the request of the Administrator, send a
written report of that deviation to the Administrator.
I’ve used the E-word "for real" once (an engine failure in
IMC. I lived). I was never asked to contact anyone, or
to write a report. Even if I had, however, the few bits of vital
information ATC provided when I needed them would have made it more
than worth it.
Aero-tip of the day: Use this May Day to brush
up on scenarios when you might have to declare an emergency.