Originally Posted by
PENKO
So then you do agree that a PAN call would more than cover you legally when you deviate from the SID?
No. You are in a state of urgency, hence no immediate assistance is required. You are expected to comply with ATC clearances and will get priority upon coordination with ATC.
Originally Posted by
PENKO
The main thing is that you communicate your intentions clearly, I think we all agree on that. Simply calling mayday will just illicit more distracting questions from ATC. Give them something to work with, enough so they can formulate their own plan, and to give them (and all the other traffic around you) a sense of your level of immediate danger.
It is actually quite the opposite. ATC is trained for Mayday scenarios. “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday - PpruneAir 123 engine failure, flying straight ahead 3 NM then left turn. STANDBY”. ATC puts in place their protocols for airspace clearance, radio-frequencies management and so on. They’ll tell You “Roger - when able souls on board, endurance and assistance required”. Period. They know that if you declare a mayday you’re not reading the newspaper.
Originally Posted by
PENKO
Also think of the bigger picture. Calling MAYDAY during the initial confusion of an engine failure? Absolutely. Causing mass diversion whilst you are subsequently in the EOSID hold briefing the minutiae of your single engine ILS, still on a MAYDAY, well…subject for discussion!
If taking off from an airport with multiple runways ATC will allow other runways to be used. If it’s a single runway they’ll keep it sterile for You. We don’t want to divert because someone else had a brake failure on landing (bad day, I know) and is now blocking the only available runway, do we?