VFR Flight Plan or Flight Following?

I recently lost communication with a student at SMX, a class D airport.

I flew out of the airspace and tried to fix the radio unsuccessfully.

The transponder was still working so I squawked 7600 and returned.

The light gun signal was almost impossible to see.

I was glad I had a work sheet for the light gun signals on board as I wasn’t confident that I remembered them correctly.

I was cleared to land with the very week light gun and pulled off by self-serve and shut down by the check list. I turned off the transponder as part of the shutdown.

After fiddling with the radio we decided to head back to the hangar as I felt we were not airworthy without a working radio. I called the tower on my cell phone and apologized for the trouble I had caused and let them know I would not be flying till the radio was fixed. There was no reason to turn the transponder back on and in fact they prefer that it is not in mode C on the ground despite what the FAA says.

In about ten minutes the tower boss showed up at my hangar and said their radar still showed us next to self-serve and their radar was basically stuck. It turns out there had been a recent software update to the radar that considers 7600 an emergency and holds the position of where the transponder went off while still squawking so they can locate a wreck. All we had to do is turn on the transponder in my hangar and dial in 1200 to unjam their radar.

The tower boss also told me they had a new brighter light gun on the way.

The ICOM radio had come loose from the tray and a little work on the mount had it working again.
 
Vance Breese said:
I recently lost communication with a student at SMX, a class D airport.

I flew out of the airspace and tried to fix the radio unsuccessfully.

The transponder was still working so I squawked 7600 and returned.

The light gun signal was almost impossible to see.

I was glad I had a work sheet for the light gun signals on board as I wasn’t confident that I remembered them correctly.

I was cleared to land with the very week light gun and pulled off by self-serve and shut down by the check list. I turned off the transponder as part of the shutdown.

After fiddling with the radio we decided to head back to the hangar as I felt we were not airworthy without a working radio. I called the tower on my cell phone and apologized for the trouble I had caused and let them know I would not be flying till the radio was fixed. There was no reason to turn the transponder back on and in fact they prefer that it is not in mode C on the ground despite what the FAA says.

In about ten minutes the tower boss showed up at my hangar and said their radar still showed us next to self-serve and their radar was basically stuck. It turns out there had been a recent software update to the radar that considers 7600 an emergency and holds the position of where the transponder went off while still squawking so they can locate a wreck. All we had to do is turn on the transponder in my hangar and dial in 1200 to unjam their radar.

The tower boss also told me they had a new brighter light gun on the way.

The ICOM radio had come loose from the tray and a little work on the mount had it working again.
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Flying since 1984 and have never seen a gun signal. I asked for one once and still didn’t see it no matter how hard I looked.
Guess that’s one thing in aviation I’ll never get see.
 
mscard88 said:
Transponder may still be operating dependent on the battery, but not for long with everything else electrical draining it.
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the impression I got was that he didn't squawk 7700 until after the comms/GPS failed, which means the battery was already too low.
 
Dana said:
Am I the only one who questions how on earth an airplane on a VFR flight outside of B or C or D airspace with an alternator failure would be considered an emergency justifying squaking 7700. 7600, sure, if the transponder was working. After all, there are thousands of planes flying every day with no electrical system at all....
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How do you know that whatever took down the electrical system hasn't caused worse problems that haven't been discovered yet? According to the FAA, it's enough to consider it an emergency if the pilot is merely "concerned" about safety, and/or that it's a "potential" distress condition. See also the discussion of urgency conditions in AIM 6-1-2a, etc.

Consider also the following language in AIM paragraph 6-4-1b:

"Whether two-way communications failure constitutes an emergency depends on the circumstances, and in any event, it is a determination made by the pilot."​

Personally, I didn't feel the need to squawk 7700 in either of my lost comm situations, but I would not pass judgment on a pilot who did so. Squawking 7700 is an emergency declaration, and more people have been killed from failing to declare an emergency than from declaring one too readily.
 
Vance Breese said:
...In about ten minutes the tower boss showed up at my hangar and said their radar still showed us next to self-serve and their radar was basically stuck. It turns out there had been a recent software update to the radar that considers 7600 an emergency and holds the position of where the transponder went off while still squawking so they can locate a wreck. All we had to do is turn on the transponder in my hangar and dial in 1200 to unjam their radar....
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Interesting! I'm saving that post for future reference.
 
In regards to the dropping off FF 7600 or even 7700 I was told by a controller once that if they can follow you and see that you make it down safe to an airport, no need for follow up. If you just "disappear" off FF and they have no idea or certainty, then they will start following up or initiate SAR.

So if they tracked the OP's pilot to an uncontrolled field...I can understand no further inquiry needed.
 
Shawn said:
In regards to the dropping off FF 7600 or even 7700 I was told by a controller once that if they can follow you and see that you make it down safe to an airport, no need for follow up. If you just "disappear" off FF and they have no idea or certainty, then they will start following up or initiate SAR.

So if they tracked the OP's pilot to an uncontrolled field...I can understand no further inquiry needed.
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Not sure how they can always see you to the ground, especially if the airport has no aporoach facility and the terminal area is run by the Center.

ETA: I just reread and saw you said *IF*.
Sorry for the misread.
 
Kritchlow said:
Not sure how they can always see you to the ground, especially if the airport has no aporoach facility and the terminal area is run by the Center.
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Radar...if they can track ya
 
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Our club requires that we file a flight plan if we are going to be more than 100 miles from KOLM or are going over the Cascades. I don't pay too much attention to this as I've had too much trouble opening a flight plan when they screw up the N number on the plane and can't find the plan (gee, I filed it on-line and I know the tail number was correct). Flight following, on the other hand, is something I always get when going more than 30-40 miles from KOLM. SEA Center has never been too busy to give it to me and I like them knowing where I am if I suddenly drop off their radar. Better than a flight plan for that purpose. Now, if I'm flying IFR, this whole thing is moot.

If the PIC thinks it's an emergency, then it is an emergency and nobody is likely to second guess the PIC. I won't fault the student pilot for declaring and squawking 7700. I have had electrical problems that dropped the alternator off-line. I didn't call in an emergency as I had a good idea what was happening, resetting the alternator CB fixed the issue, and if it hadn't I simply would have returned to the airport and had a mechanic look at it. But, that's my call.
 
Well, I guess one shouldn't fault the student pilot in his inexperience. But my take is that declaring an emergency or squawking 7700 is only necessary or appropriate when you urgently need help from somebody on the ground (priority handling from ATC, roll the trucks, send out the SAR teams, etc.)
 
luvflyin said:
DEN????
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Domestic Events Network. Post 9/11 thing for unusual activity reporting. Can't remember if VFR change of destination is required. I know IFR used to be.
 
Dana said:
Well, I guess one shouldn't fault the student pilot in his inexperience. But my take is that declaring an emergency or squawking 7700 is only necessary or appropriate when you urgently need help from somebody on the ground (priority handling from ATC, roll the trucks, send out the SAR teams, etc.)
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As PIC, it's your prerogative to handle things that way.
 
Even with flight following they never clear me into the Bravo unless I ask (if I am just passing through). If my destination is within the Bravo area they usually clear me when I contact them. I have flown right up to it many times with flight following and I always have to call and ask.
 
Don Fritz said:
Even with flight following they never clear me into the Bravo unless I ask (if I am just passing through). If my destination is within the Bravo area they usually clear me when I contact them. I have flown right up to it many times with flight following and I always have to call and ask.
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I've been cleared into bravo when on FF in order to avoid traffic below or outside of it.
 
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