Emergency Descents
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Emergency Descents
Just wondering if ATCO's expect an aircraft tracking an airway centreline and commencing an emergency descent to turn off this centreline. I ask the question because some training Captains advise this course of action and some don't.
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ATCOs don't expect anything - they try to anticipate everything! In an emergency descent, getting down safely is the prime objective. Clearing traffic below comes before worrying about niceties like turning left or right 90 degrees etc like it says in some books. If its that much of an emergency, a turn is irrelevant.
PPRuNe Bashaholic
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Unless there is a specific procedure published, for example on the North Atlantic, then I wouldn't expect any automatic deviation from course. As U B Nadd says, we always expect the unexpected 
. Another thing to bear in mind is that in some parts of the world going off the Airway may take you towards dangerous terrain whereas within the Airway at least the MSA will be taken care of by the published base of the airspace.
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10 West
UK ATC'er
[email protected]
ICQ 18043595
. Another thing to bear in mind is that in some parts of the world going off the Airway may take you towards dangerous terrain whereas within the Airway at least the MSA will be taken care of by the published base of the airspace.------------------
10 West
UK ATC'er
[email protected]
ICQ 18043595
