So what happens when you squawk 7700...

[azpilot]

In Phoenix today a student pilot on his first solo accidently set the transponder to 7700. The FAA scambled F-16's from Luke Airforce base. They spent 5 minutes buzzing Stellar Airpark in full afterburner. I missed most of the radio transmissions. You just never know when a terrosist might be on board a 172.

Oops!

Watch the news tonight...

- AZPilot

 

[Hubie]

So what happens when you squawk 7700...

In today’s atmosphere where it seems that all pilots are potential terrorist or at least perceived to be from a security and media standpoint, someone in the bat cave most likely has to go and change his/her shorts.

 

[azpilot]

Here's the first official news I have seen:

F-16s Over the East Valley

The Air Force scrambled a couple of F-16s over the Tempe and Chandler areas this morning. That after the pilot of a small single-engine plane inadvertently transmitted a radio signal indicating he had been hijacked.

The F-16s escorted the plane to Stellar Air Park Estates in Chandler, where it landed without incident Chandler police were waiting. Police spokesman Sergeant Ken Phillips says officers questioned the pilot and it appears it was all a mistake.

Phillips says the pilot had inadvertently dialed in a code on the plane's transponder indicating an emergency, and that triggered alarms in airport towers in the area.

(Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed)

 

[capt_zman]

In today's environment, he picked the wrong code to screw up on. It wasn't too long ago a 172 flew into a bank in Tampa.

 

[Ned]

I thought

7500 = hijacked
7600 = lost comm
7700 = crashing

 

[TDTURBO]

Squawking 7700 would mean he had an emergency, sqauwking 7500 would mean a hijacking, so why the F-16's?

 

[tarp]

Yep, I knew this would happen.....

I was sitting in our airline's mandatory Security and Hijacking class for post 9/11 responses. One of my thoughts on the stuff presented was "this is great, but who is telling the GA folks to be careful".

I'm not nor should any other 121/135 pilot spill the beans on this public forum about the new TSA security rules. However, I will say that for any GA pilot who knows the codes above, you should realize that they have some new meanings and you will most likely get an escort.

This is why AOPA is telling you to understand the interception procedures. You not only have certain squawk codes but there are certain words you could inadvertently say to the wrong controller and get the same greeting.

So......just do what the book says. If intercepted, follow the directions provided by the nice DoD guys. Don't grumble, don't be surprised, don't argue. The 9/11 event and the advent of the TSA has changed and will continue to change the way we live and fly. Right now, a very paranoid group of security guys has the ears of the President, Congress and most of us.

But when you are talking about using transponders, just remember this one little bit of info from the morning of 9/11 - when the weapon planes were taken over and just before turning to their targets all the transponders were turned off by the hijackers. One of the planes had squawked emergency before turning. Get the picture?

 

[azpilot]

It was 7500 and not 7700 sorry

All -

First info was 7700 but it turns out he had 7500. My bad for the earlier post. It sounds like it was a digital transponder so I am not sure if there is a button for 7500 or if that has to be manually set. I know most of those have a button for 1200.

 

[ILLINI]

If it was one of those transponders with a knob for each digit, it is possible that the pilot was trying to squawk a discrete code, or simply changing the code, and inadvertetly passed through the 7500 code. As soon as the controlers equipment picks up the 7500 (or 7700) code, it sets off all the bells and whilstles.

 

[bigsky]

I was wondering! I was at Starbucks for my morning ritual when I saw 2 F-16 do about 10 turns around a point at 1500 and it didnt seem quite right- at least not over the city