Are all London (and let's face it, damn near all UK) ATC terminal frequencies sometimes very busy indeed much if not most of the time?
- Yes
Does even the most professional pilot sometimes get a frequency transfer wrong and end up 'in limbo', even if only for a few minutes?
- Certainly
Is this an ideal situation, particularly in a really busy TMA?
-Certainly not
Is the procedure that most, (but, from reading some posts here, certainly not all) pilots and airlines employ, to have one radio always tuned to 121.5 not a safe and sure way to ensure that ATC can immediately contact any such an aircraft with minimum delay and therefore minimum disruption?
- Well I would have thought so.
Would any pilot in his right mind object to a low time PPL (or Chuck *** Yeager!) who is is unsure of his position calling in a PAN on 121.5?
- N-O!!!
But....
Do Practice Pans unnecessarily clutter up an - the - emergency frequency, causing many people within range to switch the frequency off or lower the volume to the point where its facility would be lost should ATC need to contact any one of those many aircraft?
- Yer darn tootin' they do.
The D&D triangulation facility is a fantastic aid for anyone unfortunate enough to get caught short in the UK's sometimes very changeable weather. But if it is as important as many here insist it is, surely a dedicated (or, given the shortage of frequencies, a not often used or not so critical) frequency can be found for practice PANS so that 121.5 can be kept solely for actual emergencies or critical re-establishment of comms with 'in limbo' aircraft.