Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

2 Answers

Emergency Landing

Asked by: 3187 views FAA Regulations, General Aviation, Student Pilot

If say I have an engine failure and I am forced to say land in a field in the middle of no where as I am flying VFR, obviously set transponder to 7700 and notify nearest Tower if in reach( if not go to 121.5). But once I land what do I do in terms of contacting the right people about the incident?

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.

2 Answers



  1. John D Collins on Sep 10, 2015

    An accident needs to be reported to the NTSB according to NTSB Rule 830 criteria. An off field landing may or may not be an accident. If it does not qualify as an accident according to the NTSB rule, then no report of the incident is required. So a landing in which there are no injuries, damage to objects on the ground does not exceed $25,000 and the aircraft is not substantially damaged is just an incident and need not be reported. So a forced landing because of a catastrophic engine failure with a landing in a corn field, busting the nose gear off, and damaging the prop would not usually be an accident, but would be classified as an incident.

    Call someone who can help you, but don’t call the FAA.

    +3 Votes Thumb up 3 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Kris Kortokrax on Sep 13, 2015

    You might not call the FAA, but if the police respond (which they usually do), FAA Flight Standards will be notified. Also, if you squawk 7700 and call ATC on 121.5, who do you think is looking at the radar screen or answering your radio call? You got it, the FAA. ATC will send a notice to Flight Standards.

    If your engine fails because of a mechanical issue, there won’t be any problem with the FAA. If it fails because your fuel tanks were contaminated with air, you might have a little explaining to do.

    +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.