Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

4 Answers

Declaring an emergency

Asked by: 4163 views , ,
Student Pilot

If engine is lost at 5000'AGL and I am directly over an airport, do I need to declare an emergency or can I simply notify ATC of situation?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

4 Answers



  1. Kris Kortokrax on Apr 04, 2015

    Do you think this is an emergency situation and if so, why would your choose to not declare an emergency with ATC?

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Mark Kolber on Apr 05, 2015

    I will echo Kris’ question: why would your choose to not declare an emergency?

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Heather McNevin on Apr 06, 2015

    I’d suggest you declare. ATC is going to start sending help your way right away. ATC can coordinate with towered fields, with airport managers and operators, with airport rescue and fire fighting, with local emergency services personnel, etc. Your question indicates to me that you don’t want to declare because you assume you’ll make an uneventful deadstick landing. What if you misjudge and end up 1/2 mile short of the runway in a tree? In that scenario, you’ll be glad you told someone the situation and that they are sending help your way.
    When you declare, you will be asked a few questions for emergency personnel. These include your callsign, type, number of souls on board, and fuel remaining. This information is given to rescue personnel so they can ensure adequate response to your situation.
    If in doubt about declaring, just do it. It won’t hurt the situation.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  4. Isaac Dawson on Apr 09, 2015

    Hello there,
    I would reccomend declaring an emergency no matter your location. You need to notify Air Traffic Control (ATC) that the situation is urgent. Without declaring an emergency you would be treated as a normal aircraft and would have to go through regular ATC procedures. I hope this solves your question.

    Sincerely,
    Isaac Dawson

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.