I Declare....
I DECLARE…..
“November 46 Romeo are you declaring an emergency?” asks the Abilene Tower controller. Juan, new owner of the Diamond DA-40, looks at me from the left seat, eyes bulging, clearly uncertain how to respond. “What should I tell him?”
We had begun a training flight on the ramp in San Antonio
earlier this morning, intending to make a “round robin” flight around the
middle of Texas to complete the insurance requirements and to familiarize Juan
with both the airplane and the new Garmin G-1000 panel. In his mid 30’s, Juan
is a medical doctor and fairly low-time private pilot. He is whip smart and
serious about training. He purchased the airplane to allow him to travel to
outlying hospitals for shifts in the Emergency Room. With his wife riding in the back seat, we had
flown to Midland, then on to Abilene. By the time we arrived in the Abilene
area, the sun had disappeared, and the lights of the city sparkled in the clear
winter air. Juan’s approach and landing had been flawless, and I could sense
his confidence building as we taxied back for departure. Our plan was to make
one more leg, then spend the night before continuing his training the following
day.
Checklist complete, we were cleared for takeoff. As the
DA-40 lifted off, a warning light flashed on indicating “Alternator OUT”. A
quick scan of the voltage showed normal output but the warning light remained
illuminated. Juan looked over, clearly stressed and asked “What do you think?”
I replied quickly “I suspect it is just an indicator problem, but since it is
dark and we are already here at an airport with services, we should probably
return and check things out on the ground.” I replied. Juan agreed so he called
the tower to request a return for landing.
So, the question remained, declare or not? According to the
Pilot/Controller Glossary, an emergency is “A distress or an urgency
condition.” Well, that’s not particularly helpful so let’s dig a bit deeper.
DISTRESS− A condition of being threatened by serious and/or
imminent danger and of requiring immediate assistance.
This did not seem to fit our situation as a failed
alternator did not pose any imminent danger and we did not require and sort of
immediate assistance. So what about an “Urgency Condition?”
URGENCY− A condition of being concerned about safety and of
requiring timely but not immediate assistance; a potential distress condition.
I suppose one could argue that some of the reasons for an
alternator failure might lead to bigger issues and ultimately to a distress
condition, but I was confident that we could quickly and easily return to a
safe landing. However, I have a standard personal practice that if ATC asks if
I want to declare an emergency, my default answer is probably going to be
“affirmative”.
In more than fifty years of aviating, I have had a total of
six events during which I declared an emergency. These ran the gamut from
seemingly benign situations to jaw clenching, hair tingling, “This really
sucks” moments. The last one happened shortly after takeoff from Medford Oregon
in a Cessna 182 Amphibian when the Lycoming IO-540 suffered a stuck exhaust
valve and began to lose power and oil over the high terrain north of the
airport. With the help of the local ATC Controllers, I was able to return for
an uneventful albeit expense repair. Then there was an engine failure in a
Mooney, a Cherokee Six with smoke and fumes in the cabin at night in IMC over
Shreveport. Fortunately, all of these ended well with no damaged people or
airplanes. But, during the inevitable reflection and rehashing of these events
I have come to believe that there is significant value and no downside to using
the “E” word.
Over the years I have conducted many aviation safety seminars
in which this topic has come up. I will usually ask the assembled group for a
show of hands if anyone has had a situation occur in their flying that caused
them to doubt whether the flight could be completed safely. Perhaps this could
be a weather or mechanical issue or something else such as low fuel or being
unsure of one’s location. As you might
expect, many hands will be raised. When I follow up with a question: “Of those
who have your hands raised, how many declared an emergency?” most of the hands
quickly drop. When I ask why these pilots, although faced with serious
problems, decided not to declare, the reasons usually fall into two buckets. “I
didn’t want to get in trouble with the FAA and have to do a bunch of
paperwork.” Or “I didn’t want people to think I couldn’t handle the problem.”
Since there are always a few pilots who have actually
declared an emergency, I ask if any of them had any paperwork to complete or if
anyone got into trouble with the local FSDO. Almost no one has ever had any of
this happen. Most reported that ATC simply wanted to provide whatever
assistance possible to help the pilot deal with the problem.
For the others who decided not to declare, most did not
realize that ATC can declare an emergency for the pilot if necessary. I saw
this in action on an earlier trip in the Cessna Amphib. I had taken off from an
airport on my way to Alaska when I noticed the left front landing gear failed
to retract. I lowered the gear and all showed down and locked. Knowing I needed
to get the situation checked out, I got hold of a friend of mine by text and
asked him to see if Northwest Seaplanes in Renton, Washington could help. He
reported that they would be waiting for me. After a three-hour flight, I
checked on with the Renton Tower for my landing clearance. “Roger, Skylane 81
Fox, you are number one for the runway, cleared to land. Do you need any
assistance?” “Negative” I replied. “When you land, you will see a Northwest
Seaplanes vehicle standing by” added the Controller. Sure enough, once I
touched down and cleared the runway, there was the maintenance vehicle ready to
quickly secure the airplane to prevent any possible gear issues. I’m sure the
tower had been advised of my problem and had treated it as a possible emergency
even without the actual declaration.
Back to that night in the pattern at Abilene… Juan was
waiting for my answer to the tower’s question about declaring an emergency.
After all, the red ALT OUT light was still illuminated, and we were now
entering the downwind for Runway 17. “What do you want me to say?” Juan asked.
“Go ahead and tell him affirmative.” I replied. Juan looked at me in disbelief.
“Really? Are you sure?” “Sure, go ahead.” Reluctantly, Juan keyed the mic and
repeated my answer. “Affirmative, we are declaring an emergency.” I don’t know
what Juan expected to happen, but the controller responded with absolute calm.
“Roger, cleared to land 17.”
I watched below as a row of red blinking lights began to
move toward the runway. Juan, busy with getting the pre-landing checklist
completed and still a bit shocked by this turn of events, had not noticed. As
we turned base, I pointed out the vehicles to him. “What are those?” he asked.
“Those are the firetrucks.” I responded. “FIRETRUCKS?” he quickly blurted out.
“WHAT FIRETRUCKS? Why are they coming?” I explained this was normal procedure
and not to worry about it. Then I added “however, Juan there is one thing to
remember.” Juan, whose stress level had reached DEFCON 1 with the appearance of
the large green Fire and Rescue vehicles now clearly visible, looked at me for
this critical piece of advice that I had to offer. “What, what?” he asked. I
paused a moment before suggesting “Whatever you do, don’t bounce the landing
because they’re all watching!” Juan’s jaw dropped open and I’m sure he thought
I was not taking this seriously enough, but then he smiled and I could see him
relax. He made a great landing, turned off and taxied into the FBO with the
fire truck close behind. As we shut down and secured the airplane, a figure in
a shiny aluminum suit approached and asked if everything was ok. Juan, not
knowing what to expect, explained the situation. The fireman checked a few
blocks on his clipboard, wished us good luck and drove off to the firehouse.
“That’s it?” Juan asked. “Yep, just another routine emergency. It’s all good.”
We spent the night in Abilene, had the airplane checked out
and finding nothing wrong, we departed the next day to complete the training.
Juan’s experience is illustrative of several important
lessons. First, declaring an emergency is not something to be avoided. In fact,
I think it helps the pilot come to grips with the reality of the situation and
begin to work through the problem rather than remaining in denial.
Second, it provides additional resources via ATC. However,
this has to be managed. The pilot still must make the decisions and avoid the
distractions that can arise. Many controllers are not pilots and won’t automatically
understand what is going on. But they can offer information and assistance
about local airports, marshall search and rescue and provide priority handling.
If you fly long enough, it is almost inevitable that things
will occasionally go wrong. But with proper training and regular practice, it
is easier to overcome the inevitable stress, confusion and fear that such
events present. Then, like Juan, you will have a great story to share.
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