Metroliner Mayday
 

Heard the guys over north Spain (reported just north of LOTEE- which may be the FIR boundary if I remember right) today on 121.5 declaring a Mayday with engine failure.

Sounded like they diverted to Bilbao- anyone know how they got on?

Anyone flown one of these? What's it like (in the sim or in the aircraft) on one engine?

VJW

4k+ hours in the "tube":eek: flies fine on one engine:ok:...any engine out in a twin is a mayday...even a jet!!:hmm:

Let's not get too dramatic.

No drama...as per SOP here, and just about everywhere I know engine out in twin is a "mayday" call....maybe you know different..

Where I come from its a pan pan.

Two failing would be a mayday :p

Mayday v Pan
 

Loss of one engine in any twin is a Mayday situation - even in a jet ????

Not in the real world Ironbutt57, A potential Mayday maybe, depending on why one engine failed, e.g. fuel starvation or contamination. Otherwise it is a Pan or ETOPS is reckless. I hope that you are being "tongue in cheek".

Have those engine manufacturers got you guys in their pockets
 

Dont muck about with it. Transmit a Mayday then downgrade later if/when prudent.

A mayday call will make avail a bunch of services and support that a pan wont. Not to mention if you try using pan in many places they wont have a clue what your talking about. Something along the lines of

"fastair 123 pan pan" etc ...... ATC .... "fastair123 are you declaring an emergency?" ....... "fastair123 .... Errrrr ..... yes"

In a 2 holer you most likely will descend and divert, prossibly to somewhere your not that famil with , hardly a normal day at the office.

Dont get cute ... keep it simple.

OF. that last sentence or two dont make sense to me..?

From an ATC point of view - doesn't matter what you call - ANY loss of 50% of available power plants is an automatic "full emergency" - regardless of the r/t call you made.

Also, in my 20 yrs, not only have I NEVER downgraded an emergency, once declared but as I understand it, the RFFS will refuse to downgrade anything, once they're aware of it. It is preferred to make too much effort and not be needed than not enough and be damned!

Company SOP here is Mayday after an engine failure (even in one of the three engined aircraft), downgraded at captain's discretion. It's certainly faster than "like to declare an emergency" or PAN in an area where PAN is not overly used.

agreed and I wouldnt downgrade either but some seem to get hung-up on this Pan V mayday question.

Never had an EF = "make a pan call"

Had an EF = "make a mayday call" you got bigger things to worry about

The Tube flies well when you have enough Air between you and the ground. Idle, shut down, feather if my old memory is not too rusty. Have done 2,5K´s in it. Was also my first Command Airplane. Single Engine Service Ceiling, I hope they where not over too high terrain.

I am rather going for a 3x Mayday in that case. and be safe then sorry..... Just to add a thought to the slightly diverting discussion.

Wrongly done?


Perfectly done - it started with a little bird and a MAYDAY call...

DouglasFlyer i think this is a different situation since they are on takeoff!
On takeoff, close to terrain i would call mayday but on cruise... pan pan since there is not immediate danger for plane and pax.
Then it depends on the reasons, but that is captain jugdment.

see ya

Funny direction this thread has gone :E

I've 3k hrs on 737's, and wasn't really asking whether what they did was correct or not. I heard them on freq, and the declared a mayday. Do what you want, I don't suppose Spanish ATC even know what a Pan call is, so bang in a Mayday to get their attention.

My questions where, whats is this particular aircraft like on one engine, and does anyone know how they got on?

I don't make a habit of questioning the choices pilots make in a situation I am not in. All I know is that I was happier in the cockpit of a 737NG with both engines running, then sat where they were sitting at the time.

VJW

What's the problem some people have with making a mayday call? Will you get a paycut for it or what? I myself think it just gets one thing to worry away from you... ATC is informed and who cares at the end if some rescue crew has been alerted.... However: I am sure a judge will care if they haven't been alerted and something goes wrong....

Mayday or panpan, price is the same....

A bit of willy waving going on.

you can hear it now in the pub

I only called a Pan because I am the ace of the base and I had a perfectly good engine working, no problem.

Who gives a !!!!, Mayday was a good call. Pan Pan only ever good in a French restaurant when you have ordered soup

As a opposed to a "half emergency" or a "little bit of an emergency" or an "almost full emergency"?

@Riu

While flying for more than 30 years on jets I’ve been on 3-engine (DC-10, MD-11) and 4-engine (A-340) for more than 20 years. The only engine failure I encountered was on the MD-11 homebound from Singapore while cruising. Nothing dramatic, as we set MCT-power, kept flying cruise-level and I decided to land at Budapest instead of our destination Zurich.

But it will be different on a A-330, a plane that I flew for 7 years. Encountering a engine failure tracking over the atlantic not only makes you thinking about ETOPS requirements but also about your service ceiling. You will be going off-track and descending through several levels and end up maybe at FL 180 with considerable reduced range looking for a suitable alternate.

It was learned at my company that it would be a good idea to call for a MAYDAY with a engine failure on a 2-engine-jet as most probably assistance from ATC is needed...

By the way: terrain problems at Manchester?

ironbutt57:

I guess you don't think much of ETOPS, even in a 777 or an AB 330.