Had last weekend a bit of an unusual situation: Planned with a colleague (whose first time it was in a small GA plane) a sightseeing and coffee break flight from EHRD to EHMZ; anticipating that first-time fliers might get airsick, part of the safety briefing was what to do, where the bags are, etc. EHRD is controlled, so listened to ATIS, asked for startup on DEL, requested taxiing and departure (R06) with TWR without anyone indicating any radio issues; Reception excellent. Radio is an older Icom IC-210E.
Leaving the CTR via WHISKY-HOTEL and turning south-west, around the edge of the chart my pax got seriously airsick and asked to be on the ground as soon as possible. OK, no biggie, not the first time, listened to the ATIS in case of change, switched to TWR – and nothing. Transmissions unacknowledged, tried it a few minutes while enroute to HOTEL. Switched to APP, 121.5, nothing. All the while received the busy radio chatter from the other airplanes and TWR.
Decided in the end that a violently airsick pax would constitute at least some kind of emergency, set the transponder to 7700, and planned to follow the HOTEL arrrival route and integrate visually into the circuit and let ATC keep any IFR traffic on the ILS 06 away. Luckily, around the CTR edge TWR acknowledged my transmissions, indicated 1-2/5 quality, and cleared me direct base 06. After confirming that no other technical issues were present, TWR asked to reset transponder to 7000, and the rest was a normal arrival and landing.
Further investigation and information from my co-owner indicate that this is not the first time the transceiver has transmission problems, will go for check and repair to a local avionics company.
Looking back at the situation, I wonder if I should have done things differently: Would you have continued about 25 minutes to the next uncontrolled field (EHMZ or EHSE) to avoid busting into the CTR without clearance and unreliable radio?
I would perhaps have squawked 7600 rather than 7700 and waited for light signals while circling outside the pattern. Otherwise I think you did the right thing. Diverting NORDO to another uncontrolled field while carrying a violently sick pax isn’t a good idea, IMHO. I would definitely prefer a towered airport in this case. Additionally, diverting would have involved ground transport for your friend.
172driver wrote:
I would perhaps have squawked 7600 rather than 7700 and waited for light signals while circling outside the pattern.
Thought about that as well before switching to 7700; my rationale for the emergency setting was that 7600 indicates only radio failure and not an emergency per se, so I should probably have followed to loss-of-radio-contact procedure of EHRD which means stay outside the CTR.
Basically, I understand your reasoning, and it’s good to ask here. I have to admit that albeit one can feel very bad upon airsickness, I would not see imminent threat to life here and would not have selected emergency code. Chances are also very low, that this situation evolved to a real life-threatening situation.
I, too, would have opted for the 7600 and maybe would have diverted to another field.
You just have to think about all the system and people involved who you alert with that transponder code. And redirecting approaching traffic, if necessary. For me this sounds like home-itis in this case.
But this is a personal opinion. Maybe it’s more common to use 7700 than I think.
You had to make a decision.You did. The end result was good. Well done.
It is so easy to make a decision or criticise sitting in an armchair, knowing there are no consequences.
I once had a situation whereby on leaving Jersey I first lost radios and then one by one, every other piece of electrical equipment. I fixed 7600 but many argued afterwards that I should have set 7700. It turned out fine for me but the debate still raises its head from time to time. All you can say is “you can do it your way if it happens to you.”
UdoR wrote:
Basically, I understand your reasoning, and it’s good to ask here. I have to admit that albeit one can feel very bad upon airsickness, I would not see imminent threat to life here and would not have selected emergency code. Chances are also very low, that this situation evolved to a real life-threatening situation.
Good point, and I think I was biased by the fact that returning to nearby Rotterdam would make things a bit easier for me. Maybe I should adapt my first-time flyer briefing and make it clear that if they’re airsick and we have a communication issue, they would need to tough it out until we land in one of the nearby uncontrolled fields.
Never had a radio issue before, and together with the passenger situation, I realised how much I subsconsciously rely on being able to call up ATC (especially since the Rotterdam controllers are really nice to work with).
This goes a bit on a tangent, but has anyone experience with mobile phone connectivity in low-level flight? I have a GMA 245 audio panel waiting to be installed, which would enable me to do phone calls via Bluetooth, and I considered that writing down the phone number of the tower as part of the flight planning could have meant to call them up when NORDO and arrange something as another option in the big bag of tricks.
UdoR wrote:
Chances are also very low, that this situation evolved to a real life-threatening situation.
Being single crew, a violently airsick passenger sitting next to you may distract you enough that a mayday or at least a pan call could be an appropriate option.
Sebastian_H wrote:
Good point, and I think I was biased by the fact that returning to nearby Rotterdam would make things a bit easier for me.
As it should. As @Airborne_Again says, you don’t know how the situation is going to develop. There’s another factor here: how do you know why the radio is playing up! Especially if this had never happened before, there may well be a deeper problem lurking behind the panel. The last thing you need in your situation is to divert and have a total electrical failure or, worse, fire.
Sebastian_H wrote:
Never had a radio issue before, and together with the passenger situation, I realised how much I subsconsciously rely on being able to call up ATC (especially since the Rotterdam controllers are really nice to work with).
ATC is there to help you. Don’t hesitate. It’s much better to have a phone conversation with the tower while safely on the ground than dealing with a cascading series of problems in the air.
Both ICAO and EASA made a very conscious decision to never write down anything about what constitutes an emergency. Not even examples!
The reason is: An emergency always is a personal impression from the pilot in command at that specific point in time. Some might regard at some time a convulsion to be an emergency. Some others do not even an SEP engine failure as one (as one can glide down or has a chute).
In the end, declaring an emergency via radio or transponder does not say something else than “I feel that I’m just at the edge of what I can handle right now and therefore I need outside help to make sure this ends in a happy landing and not an accident report”.
Therefore if Sebastian felt it is now time to call for help, it for sure was – and hence it was absolutely right to declare an emergency. It’s actually a great story and a great example as it not only illustrates that one should not hesitate to go this step but also that there are no negative consequences to fear.
Many pilots – including not the least Sebastian himself – would have been able to handle this situation w(o declaring emergency. But why would one even try (and risk ones life) if all it takes is to say this one word (three times) or dial in this squawk?
I had to do the same decision some decades back, flying from Altenrhein to Basle via the north of ZRH’s busy airspace. My pax started to vomit (in a Cessna 150) and became unresponsive. I immediately called Pan to ZRH Information and requested a diversion to ZRH via the ILS to 14 (as we were practically on the extended centerline) and they immediately responded and we got a direct. Were on the ground a few minutes later, ambulance waited on the taxiway.
Turned out the guy had overindulged the night before and had not told me, but the response and handling by ATC was first rate.
