Undeclaring an emergency

[pilotguyt]

I was hoping to hit upon the experience of all of you here and get the answer to what seems to be a relatively simple question, but I am having trouble locating any evidence to support it. The question presented is "Can a pilot, once they have declared an emergency, resolve the problem and then undeclare the emergency?" The answer seems to be yes but like I said, I can't seem to find anything to support this. Any pointers on where I should be looking would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[justApilot]

Once you declare an emergency, the FAA is going to follow up. It is time for the paperwork, it is really no big deal.

 

[pilotguyt]

I understand the issue of paperwork and everything else. I guess maybe I should rephrase and say,

"You are running a leg from ORD-BOS, shortly after takeoff you get a cargo smoke/fire warning. As part of your response to this you declare an emergency and get vectors back to ORD. In the process the warning extinguishes and the determination is that it was a false alarm. You then undeclare your emergency, and turn back to BOS."

This is allowed, but where is the documentation saying so. Maybe this might help give you a better idea of where I am going.

Thanks again

 

[justApilot]

I'm still landing in ORD and giving the plane to maintenance to troubleshoot the system to find out why the apparent false alarm. As far as continuing on...well, that is your prerogative. The FAA now be more interested in your decision to continue the flight.

 

[ReportCanoa]

How could you determine if it was false? If you decided to continue with the flight, and had a second warning, what would be the excuse then? That would get you fired for sure. Fire warnings of any type require landing at the nearest suitable airport, and it's up to pilot and company to determine where, but if you continue after one, chances are you'll get fried for it...

 

[pilotguyt]

Okay, I agree with you all that this probably would not be the best decision to make, but believe it or not it comes from an ASRS report. Regardless of the value judgement, is there any documentation supporting the "ability" to make the decision, regardless of its correctness.

 

[midlifeflyer]

The sole purpose of declaring an emergency is to get priority handling. If, having declared an emergency, you decide that the conditions have changed so you don't need it any more, you don't need a regulation to ATC that they can back to business as usual.

Example different from yours:

You have a vacuum pump failure in IMC. You declare an emergency, asking ATC to vector you to the nearest VFR weather. You break out of the clouds and say, "Helpful Center, Cherokee XXO is in VFR conditions. I can take it from here. I no longer need your help. I'm cancelling the emergency and my IFR flight plan. Thank you so much."

 

[ReportCanoa]

Not sure of any official rules regarding the undeclaration of the emergency status. At the airlines however, the FAA will be alerted to the situation, and will have an inquiry. A pilot better have a genius explanation as to why he continued... I bet there was a great reason this pilot decided to file a NASA, on advice of his lawyer!

 

[BEXFlyer]

Another example of "undeclaring" an emergency may be if you find yourself in Moderate to Severe ICE and the aircraft will not perform (ie climb). Once you declare and emergency and either climb, but most likely descend out of it, it is acceptable to "undeclare" and continue to your destination. Just be sure you are not going to reenter the ice. Hasn't happened to me, but has to several pilots I know. Still be prepared to do parerwork and answer questions (Was there known ice on your route of flight, etc.)

 

[ATCER]

Anytime a pilot declares an emergency paperwork is filed. The controler alerts the supervisor and all info is recorded. As far as continuing on or "undeclaring" the PIC can do as he/she wishes... when a pilot declares emergency we ask... state your intentions. Anything the pilot wants the pilot gets. Just be sure to be able to explain your actions at a later date in case the FAA decides to take a closer look. As was said earlier... all air carrier emergencies are looked at by the FAA and most others are also.

Please don't confuse what I'm saying by not declaring if something is wrong... you will not get in trouble, even if you over reacted a bit... better safe then sorry.

 

[Joe Jet Pilot]

Something Else To Consider

I agree with the other posters, I'm not sure it would be wise to cancel an emergency.

Even if you do, ATC can (and will) declare an emergency on your behalf if they feel the conditions warrent it. So even if you were to transmit to the effect that you were no longer in an emergency situation, ATC may still carry you as an emergency aircraft.

I was in a Cessna 414 that we could not get one of the mains up and locked. We told ATC about the problem, told them all 3 were down and locked, and we needed to return, well the tower called the emergency and we had all the trucks and stuff. At no time did we declare.

I also seem to recall that a dispatcher may also declare an emergency. I'm not sure if that is correct, maybe the 121 guys can fill us in.

 

[ReportCanoa]

Dispatchers may declare emergency, yes.

 

[dispatchguy]

I declared once when a flight of mine had a "B word" threat made against it after 9/11.

The SOC manager at the airline said the threat wasnt specific enough, and didnt warrant it. All I said was " after 9/11, the rules have changed", called the center that would be controlling the flight upon a handoff from the 3rd world country, and told the watch manager I was declaring an emergency for the flight.

I told the watch manager that I would let the captain make the final decision as to continue/divert - once they were handed off, and I was able to tell the crew of the threat, the captains voice got about 10 octaves higher over the radio, and he made the decision to divert.

This was not at my current carrier.

 

[avbug]

Declaring an emergency doesn't shift one into some parallel dimension where things have suddenly changed. You're simply stated that you have a problem and that you need help.

If you no longer have the problem, say so, and move on. You're pilot in command. State your intentions and be done with it.

I think sometimes people have this bizarre image in their heads that "declaring" an emergency sets a mystical chain of events in motion, causes all the lights to turn red and claxons to sound at the nearest ATC facility, and the FAA to go on high alert.

You simply state what you have, and what you intend to do.

By example, we got a fire light coming out of FAT in a C-130 once. We knew the propensity of that airplane to give false fire indications, and we spent a few minutes sorting it out to the east of the airport. We advised ATC what we had, then resolved it, and then advised them we were continuing with our mission. End of story. Not another word said, no problem, no muss, no fuss. Typical.

We probably wouldn't have said anything at all, but the false indications were typically sunlight or reflection from the ground setting off the warning, and usually a 90 degree turn or two would make it go away. ATC wanted to know about our turns, we told them, and we made it go away. They asked if we needed trucks, we said no, and went to the fire.

 

[Freight Dog]

Depending under what rules you fly, you may not have to do paperwork unless asked by ATC or Administrator (as FAR's put it).


If you fly under Part 91 and you have to shut down an engine, or you have a gear problem that you consequenty resolve, you declare an emergency and you land without any incident - chances are no paperwork. ATC may require paperwork, but most of the time, if everything worked out, they won't.

However, if you are flying under Part 121, it's a whole different ball game. If you declare an emergency, you HAVE to fill out irregularity report which is forwarded to your POI. Chances are they will investigate it. They'll want to know what happened, and that's about it. If you do a good job on the irregularity report, and it was a cut and dry problem, you as a pilot may not even hear anything from the FAA. Your Flight Ops may call you and get clarification if they need it. But paperwork is a must in this case.


Two different scenarios - two different requirements.