Declaring an emergency

[ksu_aviator]

Along the same lines of this survey...A 441 with a Dr and his wife on board went down yesterday here in Kansas. I don't know all the details, but I can say there was very likely severe icing. The Dr did request a landing at an airport other than his destination, but they never got to it. I'm betting the guy got loaded with ice and never declared an emergency, just asked for radar vectors. I heard no mention of an emergency being declared. Maybe if he had he would be sitting in BFE Kansas drinking cofee right now.

 

[AWACoff]

My reason for not declaring an emergency at my current job is because I don't want the feds poking around. Jumper aircraft are fairly sketchy to begin with at the mom and pop dropzones. Unless I am leaving the aircraft (ie smoke, fire, etc.), it just isn't worth risking my certificate and career. There is nothing that ATC can do to help that the people on the ground can't do (where I fly).

 

[OtterFO]

Wildcat man, Here's your 441

ACFT ADVISED OF LOSS OF AUTOPILOT IN IMC AND THE PILOT REQUESTED NO-GYRO VECTORS TO VMC, THE ACFT THEN DESCENDED RAPIDLY UNTIL RADAR/RADIO COMMUNICATIONS WERE LOST, THE ACFT CRASHED AND WAS DESTROYED, THE 2 POB SUFFERED FATAL INJURIES, OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES ARE UNKNOWN, ARKANSAS CITY, KS.

WEATHER: KWLD 1954Z AUTO 00000KT 4SM FZRA BR BKN010 OVC013 M01/M02 A3001

This is off the FAA website. As you can see, the weather was lousy in SC KS, but this guy confessed his problems and requested help. Also the FZRA indicates a temp inversion so it is likely the air was warmer where he was when the he lost his gyros and autopilot. Although I'm a long way from my NC OK roots I remember the inversions this time of year in Northern OK/ Southern KS can be spectacular. 20 degrees warmer just 3000' AGL.

On a side note, today on the North Slope, I landed at a village and the temp was -42C, when I broke 1000' MSL on the way back to Barrow, it was -16C

 

[ksu_aviator]

Thanks for the update...how do you find those reports?

 

[OtterFO]

www.faa.gov

www.ntsb.gov

www.airdisaster.com

 

[Birddog]

Declaring Emergencies

I only declared once, when I lost an engine in a twin. I was reasonably certain that I would land safely, however, if something else went wrong, I wanted someone ready to pull me from the flaming wreckage.
In all seriousness though, if you think you need to declare an emergency, you probably do. What constitutes an emergency for one person (or crew) may not be one for another, depending on equipment, training, experience, and conditions. Its all part of exercising good judgement. It is not just a good CYA maneuver, it also mobilizes things like crash-fire-rescue (if the airport is so equiped) and in some cases, SAR. Good luck and fly safe.