Skwark codes.

[flying dog]

Help if you can:

 

7700 is used for distress.

 

7600 is used for comms failure. But it isn't defined beyond that.

 

What do you send if you have a nasty situation AND comms failure?

 

 

[David Isaac]

Depends how nasty; at the least '7600' to indicate the comms failure and if the distress is more important than the comms failure then squawk '7700'.

 

A comms failure in itself cannot kill you, but a distress may have the potential to; so it is clearly a matter of priorities.

 

 

[rong]

7500 - Pilot under duress. They don't expect/trust any radio transmission after that ;)

 

 

[Guest Howard Hughes]

Help if you can:7700 is used for distress.

 

7600 is used for comms failure. But it isn't defined beyond that.

 

What do you send if you have a nasty situation AND comms failure?

With multiple problems you would always transmit the worst case, so 7700!

Rong, 7500 is for a hijacking!!

 

 

[flying dog]

Thanks folks.

 

A bit the wiser.

 

 

[dazza 38]

I was scratching my head thinking WTF are Skwark codes. I then realised that it was meant to be squawk codes.

 

 

[Patrick Normoyle]

7500 - Pilot under duress. They don't expect/trust any radio transmission after that ;)

This is not very accurate, we ( ATC's ) use our judgement on a case by case situation, weighing up all factors, there are other indicators that can be used where possible.

 

 

[Neville75]

You've probably heard or learnt these:

 

7500 - 75 taken alive (hijack)

 

7600 - 76 radio needs a fix

 

7700 - 77 going to heaven

 

 

[rong]

This is not very accurate, we ( ATC's ) use our judgement on a case by case situation, weighing up all factors, there are other indicators that can be used where possible.

Patrick, AIP requires ATC to respond to a 7500 squawk and if there is no reply to treat that as prima facia evidence that an emergency exists. They (you) are required to not necessarily *expect* a radio response. I'm sure you're trained to do lots of things in these circumstances but in the context of the original question (an unspecified "nasty situation") my response is accurate.

 

 

[Patrick Normoyle]

Rong, sorry but not quite right, we will acknowledge the code and deactivate the alarm on the console ( if fitted), we then follow a checklist of items and it is the Airline company's call as to the level of credibility for a bomb threat and the Department of Transport / dept of defence / CASA / airline /ATC who determine if the 7500 is to be treated as such if that is the only indicator, accidental activation of distress is common on some aircraft types where it can be activated by a hidden foot activated switch. It is very rare and usually in error that a 7500 gets activated. The 7700 is slightly more common and the 7600 is probably a daily occurrence across the country. We strongly recommend mobile phone contact as a measure to be considered in a radio failure, be conversant with both AIP AND ERSA entries for the airport / airspace concerned and remember, AVIATE, navigate and then communicate. The first two will keep you alive and the last one will aid you in getting some help and letting others know to be aware. Be aware there are significant fines for intentional misuse of the distress codes, also, don't rely on them being received, there was in incident 5 years ago in outback NSW, a pilot had a partial power failure of one power bus, he lost VHF radio and one transponder, the other transponder he thought was working but it wasn't, he did the right thing and dialled up 7600 and flew the last 2 1/5 hours without doing anything else. He landed at a busy airport in the middle of a large military exercise , when confronted on the ground, he was angry no one new he had the failure, this airport and the altitude and route he flew were out of radar coverage, the 2nd transponder didn't work and he didn't / hadn't read ERSA / AIP SUP / NOTAM to know what to do and what was available to use. He landed against light signals from the Tower, didn't use his HF radio that did still work and didn't use his mobile phone when he was within range. Like most things in aviation, even down at the lower end of RAA, take the time to think the problem through, know your equipment and the airspace you are in, not a radar tower then 7600 or any other code may well be useless, don't think that you have done all that is required, you may still KILL YOURSELF. The saying goes, there is ALWAYS more than one way to skin a cat..

 

 

[rong]

Hi Patrick. It's nice to chat on a quiet Sunday afternoon.

 

The original post referred to a "nasty situation AND comms failure". For the sake of argument let me put a hypothetical "nasty situation" to you, recognising that it would be highly unusual but possible.

 

Your passenger has totally freaked out and has taken a death grip on the controls in an irrational attempt to get back to the ground. You manage to get them to relax their grip with a promise to put down *immediately*. This scenario is not totally fictional and has been described previously in the Air Safety magazine. You're at least 30 minutes from your home field but on the edge of a CTR and therefore 5 minutes from the safety of a runway, and honestly believe that if you start talking on the radio rather than talking soothingly to the agitated passenger you're going to set them off again.

 

You wouldn't consider 7500 and get down ASAP without a word to ATC?

 

7500 is after all "unlawful interference" , not specifically "hijacking" and as far as I know not limited to the heavy metal.

 

 

[Patrick Normoyle]

This is a great example for us, light aircraft pilots, you could use 7500 or even 7700, but the questions you might get from ATC like do you require armed intervention on arrival, or we are directing military aircraft to your location to escort you to a safe location might freak your passenger out even more. You still need to get a clearance to enter the CTR and the code will help with that, but a 7500 is treated with grave caution, you'll be directed to the special parking area and be met be APIS, AFP AND local police. As PIC, you along have to make the call as to what is best, possibly the best way to do it would be to advise ATC you have an unstable passenger and you need to divert to the Airport in the CTR ASAP and request a clearance. As we are all Pilots in Command we have to assess each and every situation on its merits and make judgements accordingly, keep you passenger informed and calm them down as best as possible, maintain control of the aircraft at all times and under Australian law, you can force their compliance with "actions of a reasonable man " eg ( knock them out ) but I'm no lawyer, so do so with absolute caution, never start a fight you can't win.

 

 

[Patrick Normoyle]

Quiet for some, 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, so no rest for the poor government employee.

 

 

[Doug McCullough]

Got to pay a compliment to the people at Brisbane Center. In August 2012 I was one of three aircraft flying from Emerald to Charters Towers and we get a call from Brisbane Center asking who was squawking on 7600 and if there was a problem that they could assist with. As it turned out one of the pilots had 7600 as his second code to 1200 and had accidently pushed the flip flop button. As the other pilot (Not me of course) still had comms it was easily fixed, but it was nice to know that there is somebody there keeping an eye out for us all.

 

Lesson learnt, do not have an emergency code dialled in as a second code.

 

 

[Patrick Normoyle]

So true Doug, and what an unusual code to have in there, was he anticipating something ?