Mayday calls

[Guest skydemon]

G'day all, I am just having a read through the flight guides on auf.asn.au (in particular emergency procedures) and I notice there are some discrepancies between what is published and what I was taught.

 

from http://www.auf.asn.au/comms/safety.html :

 

<div ="quotation">

 

When a non-instrument rated recreational pilot realises that he/she is likely to be in difficulties (very low on fuel – lost or in failing light – low cloud and rising terrain) or that the difficulty has arrived (the engine has failed), the top priorities are to (a) fly the aircraft (b) continue flying the aircraft whilst running through the pre-planned emergency drills and ©

 

decide the best landing area. During this period an assessment must be

 

made of the probable outcome in terms of possible injury and/or

 

survival following the landing.

 

* If the aircraft is

 

normally controllable, visibility is OK and the area is clear terrain

 

with normal rural population density and road infrastructure, then the

 

landing will not be life threatening and, if unable to remedy the fault

 

on the ground, the pilot won't have to walk far to find assistance. In

 

this circumstance most ultralight pilots would not consider

 

communicating any form of alert except, perhaps, to advise an

 

accompanying aircraft.

 

* If however the pilot is experiencing control difficulty, or the

 

terrain is rough and/or heavily treed, or in a more remote area, then

 

it is most likely that the landing cannot be carried out without risk

 

of injury and the ultralight pilot would be well advised to initiate a

 

distress broadcast – a MAYDAY call.

 

In between these two extremes there are circumstances which make some

 

form of alert or urgency communication advisable, even if the pilot

 

doesn't want to ask for help or feels a bit embarrassed about it. (But – in my book – better red than dead).

 

The frequency chosen, at the pilot's discretion, depends on

 

circumstances and should be that which is most likely to provide a

 

quick response or rapid assistance at the scene. One option is the

 

local CTAF if other aircraft or a Unicom operator are known to be on

 

frequency. Otherwise if the pilot is not in contact with Air Traffic

 

Services, the norm for ultralight aviation, the first choice response

 

station will usually be Flightwatch, on the area frequency. A third

 

option is the international VHF distress frequency of 121.5 MHz which

 

is continually monitored by RPT aircraft.

 

However, I was taught to ALWAYS transmit a mayday call if in a situation such as an engine failure on the local center freq (in my case 120.0) and squawk 7700 (this is assuming I am not within gliding distance of an airfield),

 

but going but what was quoted above it is ok to exclude a mayday call

 

completely assuming you are confident in landing the plane without

 

incident. It also does not mention having to squawk 7700 when in

 

distress.

 

Any comments?

 

 

[Admin]

Posted on behalf of a guest:

 

AVIATE, NAVIGATE then COMMUNICATE.

 

There's far better value in lining yourself up for a nice landing than worrying about who to call.

 

In theory if you are already on the appropriate frequency for your area all you need to do is transmit when in trouble.

 

Valuable time can be lost when trying to dial up an alternate

 

frequency, especially if you've got one of those fiddly Microair's or

 

similar.

 

If time is tight, it may be quicker to set off your ELT first - you can

 

always cancel it later if you land ok. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

If you can, always lodge a flight plan too and activate flight following if appropriate.

 

7700 is probably not on the RA-Aus website because of the relatively

 

limited number of U/L aircraft with transponders fitted. Michael,

 

looking on the website at the Jabiru's that you've been flying, they

 

appear to be the exception to the norm and are fairly well equipped

 

with transponders, etc. This isn't usually the norm.

 

 

[Guest Stkin0]

hi ian

 

the gazelle that i train in and 7 others are all fited with transponders

 

 

[Admin]

Hi Steven

 

Its interesting that you point out that 8 Gazelles that you know of have transponders. This is probably, as a guess, due to so many Gazelles having been VH registered at some point in their life.