Typhoon (et al),
Before you get yourself worked up into a frenzy, yo should note that at NO time have I ever dictated that one should NOT declare an emergency. I stated that the events that I have experienced, in the type of operation and in the situation, (in context) were not emergencies. What you do is your own business.
I was not with the "Honduran Air Force" for the events to which you allude. Those occured during firefighting operations, which put airplanes in some extreme circumstances, and cause stresses and conditions not encountered in other types of flying. Those occured in large four engine airplanes, and were flown with a crew, not single pilot. My experiences in one of those airplanes pale in comparison to a fellow crew in the past month; the airplane exploded for them. (I experienced an explosion on board in that airplane several years previously).
You may not have occasion to be flying on instruments in close proximity to the ground in high winds and severe to extreme turbulence while your engines ingest burning objects that vary in size from a 2X4 to a whole tree. That doesn't mean that those who do fly into those conditions are unprofessional. On the contrary, the flight is in a state of emergency from the time the horn goes off...having an engine shutdown or a small fire to deal with is minor compared to the normal routine...the normal routine IS the emergency.
When you don't deal with it all the time, small things seem like big things. When you do deal with it all the time, big things can become routine. Two airplanes I formerly flew have come apart on the job this year, killing crews I flew with. I'm flying a type design that's had two airplanes of it's own shed wings, too. It's not a maintenance issue; it's the environment. Don't knock it if you haven't been there.
If I went about declaring an emergency for some of the things we've been discussing, I'd declare it when I get the dispatch slip, before taking off, and would reiterate it each time I check in with a new party. I didn't create the emergency, so I don't feel bad about enjoying dealing with it. If you want to see a round engine pilot sweat bullets, let him go three hours without a problem. The suspense is a killer.
Call me "warped" if you will. Until you have the experience to back it up, or have flown a few hours in my boots, then that assesment doesn't mean much to me. My definition is developed by personal experience. It's nothing to do with being "macho," or other kid-stuff. It's to do with having experienced these things before, and knowing what is worth getting excited about, and what isn't.
You may choose to get really excited about an onboard fire. In many cases, this may be warranted. I'm not about to tell someone not to declare an emergency, but I can state that of the fires I've experienced personally, none yet have amounted to much excitement. I've been in structural fires on the ground on a number of occasions, and wildland fires as well, that got my blood pumping a lot more, and that weren't nearly as easily put out. People tend to panic by nature when they see a fire; fire suggests an emergency by it's very essence. This isn't always the case. I've been in fires hot enough to melt the nomex on other firefighters heads, and melt my boots. Putting out a seat cushion or a little fuel fire in many cases just doesn't compare.
Every situation is different, and I have repeatedly stated that if you need to exercise emergency authority, then do it. You should understand that no formal declaration of an emergency is necessary to do this.
I was once in a recurrent class for the Learjet. The instructor, a man with many years in the Lear, was discussing an depressurization at altitude. He asked me the proceedure. I rattled off the litany; oxygen masks don, select one hundred percent. Thrust levers to idle, auto pilot disengage, spoilers extend...yada yada. When the immediate action items are complete, the proceedure goes on to say "if time and conditions permit..." and provides that the pilot should activate the oxygen mask mic switch and notify ATC.
The instructor insisted that this should be done first, before the descent is begun. He noted that one might descend into other traffic, and emphasized the need to communicate. I disagreed, and still do. Get oxygen, get started down, deal with the situation and fly the airplane, and then as the proceedure clearly states, if time and conditions permit, talk.
When I lost power at the V1 cut, it wasn't a 50% loss. It was one engine of four. It was the critical engine. Shutting down a radial engine isn't the same as shutting down a turbojet. Additionally, feathering with a hydromatic system isn't about just pushing a button. You have one shot in the event of oil loss, if that, and if you don't get it timed right, it comes out of feather, or doesn't go in all the way and this is a real problem. 300' is no time at a non-towered field to be wasting time talking to empty space about emergencies. If that prop isn't feathered pronto, and kept feathered, then the flight isn't going to maintain altitude. At 300' do you really think it's a time to be screwing around yodeling about what a bad day you're having, or is it a good time to take care of that airplane?
There's nothing cowboy or cavelier or unprofessional about dealing with the situation at hand and saving the yak-yak for later. To whom would I have declared an emergency? If someone other than a private pilot responded, how do you suppose they might have helped me? This wasn't an international field with crash rescue standing by. It was a normal every day operation that happened to require the full attention of both crewmembers. It so happened that base personnel who watched the departure called a local fire department as soon as we disappeared behind the trees.
Who do I fly for as my regular employment? That doesn't really matter, but I have yet to pass a check with less than flying colors; I have never had an employer or passenger complaint. I work closely with the FAA, and am even an Aviation Safety Counselor...all with no troubles at all. Employers, passengers, check airmen, and the FAA, as well as contracting agencies et al, don't have a problem with me...why do you??
I am temporarily fighting fire again, as it's my passion and love, and by a stroke of good fortune, it's something that I'm good at. I am on a leave of absence from my regular employment, as qualified initial attack pilots are in demand this year due to a high fire state. I don't have the luxury of picking nits over small minor matters. A number of personal associates have died on the job this year, and I'm doing my darndest not to join them. Does that make me cavalier or unprofessional? I'm not dead yet, so you tell me. Perhaps tomorrow, huh?
Poor advice to impressionable young minds? Come on! Let's just celebrate a heritage of inexperience, then. Why bring personal experience and observation in, when we could simply exist on school book plattitudes and lessons learned in the mighty simulator? Why drag real life into it? If these things concern stuff you haven't had to deal with, then perhaps it's worth listening...you might learn something.
Well said.
I think I'd quit that outfit too. Who are you with, the Honduran Air Force?
