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.

FMI: Aero-Tips