PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - AA crew fed up with JFK ATC - declares emergency.
Old 9th May 2010, 08:26
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NZScion
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
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My 2c, with 20/20 hindsight and with all the stress of driving a laptop, instead of a B767 in what appears to have been a very sticky situation, also having listened to the tape, but without claiming to know the full background on the situation:

1. As has already been mentioned, using the correct phraseology "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday" to declare the emergency would have gotten the immediate attention of the controller and all others on the frequency. It seems to me that the controller did not pick up the full meaning of "OK we've declared an emergency, we're going to land 31 Right."

Stick the magic word repeated three times in instead of "OK we've declared an emergency" and everyone would have been on the same page.

2. After declaring the emergency, the crew could have been a lot clearer regarding their urgent requirement for 31R. Something along the lines of "require runway 31R immediately" might have been better. Also, when given a heading instruction by the controller, a quick "negative, unable" might have been beneficial.

However, having said this, the crew Aviated, Navigated, and got the punters on the ground safely. Having the comms in a pressure cooker situation spot on is just icing on the cake. Good job.
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