Declaring The Emergency

The left engine was cutting out but youve kept it running with the aux pump. Weather at the big airport, 15 miles from your destination, has been dropping slowly; its down to 500 feet overcast and a mile visibility, which just happens to be the published minimums for both of the approaches into Homeplate Regional, where you base your light twin. The couple in the back seat had been fighting about him drinking vodka from the bottle for the first hour of the trip, but once he passed out, things quieted down. Just as ATC gives you the clearance for a lower altitude, the rains intensity goes from light to firehose and the left engine again demands attention. Full rich mixture smooths it out. A moment later the remaining conscious passenger in the back seat announces her water has broken and shes in labor. Your right seat passenger asks if youre going to declare an emergency and shoot the ILS into the big airport. "No way," you reply, visions of John Wayne, Chuck Yeager and The Right Stuff in your mind as you turn to focus your steely, glinting baby blues on him. "Im not filling out all that paperwork; Ill just make sure were number one for the approach into Homeplate." Over the next 10 minutes the mother-to-be in the rear seat makes increasingly vocal announcements regarding contractions at regular and diminishing intervals, and when you make a power reduction as you near the final approach fix the left engine resumes its misbehavior.

Key Takeaways:

• Many general aviation (GA) pilots dangerously avoid declaring emergencies due to ego, a misplaced sense of self-reliance, and the false belief that it entails burdensome FAA paperwork, often leading to tragic outcomes.
• Declaring an emergency is crucial as it immediately mobilizes vital external resources such as air traffic control assistance, priority landing, and emergency services (CFR) on standby, significantly increasing the chances of a safe resolution.
• The widespread myth that declaring an emergency involves extensive FAA paperwork is explicitly debunked; pilots are rarely required to file reports and face almost no enforcement action unless an FAA regulation was actually violated.
• The article advocates for GA pilots to adopt the professional approach of airline and military pilots by setting aside ego and utilizing all available resources to ensure passenger safety during critical in-flight situations.

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