Originally Posted by
hikoushi
In the USA we "declare an emergency". However if lack of use of the word "MAYDAY" is the only criticism we can throw at this American domestic crew operating in American domestic airspace, let's just shut up and say good job.
I would concur. There was no confusion between pilot and controller. I listened to the audio and from the moment the pilot announced they were descending, the controller inferred the emergency and began vectoring them towards a landing.
My only quibble with the approach controller were the multiple queries about the nature of the emergency ("is the engine still on fire?" etc.) which were probably redundant in a situation where the pilots' hands were full.
I also found it interesting that the pilot chided ATC about too many frequency changes -- those were edited out of the audio clip I listened to.