Scando:-[list=1][*]Yes, I am an instructor.[*]The frequency is still available for emergency calls. It is very easy (I've heard it happen) to cancel a practice pan when a genuine emergency comes up.[*]I don't know anyone who would rather crash and burn. Your sarcasm does not aid this discussion. Please bin the attitude. However, many students (and PPLs) of my acquaintance who haven't used 121.5 for a practice pan are intimidated from using it, and many would, instead, bumble on, often into Controlled Airspace, when lost instead of calling up and asking for a position fix. This would not be a satisfactory state of affairs. It helps if they are confident that some ATCO will not make them feel a fool for having got lost.[*]You and I know it's not a complicated procedure. Until they've tried it, many of them don't realise this. Practice helps them.[/list=a]
slam_dunk:-[list=1][*]I don't see much effective difference in the reason you claim people don't like it.[*]There are very few frequencies where practice pan calls could be made. It would require an ATC unit, not AFIS or Radio. 121.5, on the other hand, is generally very quiet.[*]Yes, you can get QDM/QDR on many frequencies. However, you can not get a position fix by triangulation.[*]ATC does not get their practice, since they don't get to practice. Have you been asleep? Position fixing by D&D Cell is ONLY AVAILABLE ON 121.5![*]Perhaps your colleague should have been listening on a normal watch frequency instead of listening to 121.5?[/list=a]
I reiterate - I see no sufficient reason to change the system. Nobody has produced any evidence that safety is being impaired, that the practice is not worth the effort. The only hard evidence for change is those pilots who don't like listening to practice pans and turn the volume down. Well, tough.