Query about the NZ CAA Radio exam: May I know why Squawk 7700 is not the first thing to do

Posted by Visible_Doughnut_873@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 9 comments

This is the question [ You experience an engine failure during flight, you should fly the aircraft toward a suitable forced landing area and at a suitable time:](https://preview.redd.it/5r6m3rgfhf3g1.png?width=1083&format=png&auto=webp&s=bf7a4a523f36491aa896975797e18c50545e9f8a) I chose make 7700 first bcoz it is easier and most efficient way to let every ground stations know my situation. But it comes out I was wrong. Why?

Reply to Post

9 Comments

[-]

makgross@reddit

Radar assistance? Just how complete is radar coverage in NZ? Having been to the South Island west coast, if there is radar out there, I’ll eat my foggles. Even in the US, there are quite a lot of small towers in class D airspace with no radar.

[-]

HardCorePawn@reddit

>Just how complete is radar coverage in NZ? There are "Theoretical" Coverage maps available in ENR1.6 of the AIP: [enr\_1\_6](https://www.aip.net.nz/assets/AIP/En-route-ENR/1-GENERAL-RULES-AND-PROCEDURES/ENR_1.06.pdf) But yeah, you are correct that the "trick" in this case is the "rely on radar assistance" part of the answer. As with most of our theory exams, you get "kind of" correct answers... and "more correct than the other correct" answers :P

[-]

Kon3v@reddit

We have 3 or 4 radars. Rest is adsb.

[-]

Independent-Reveal86@reddit

“I chose make 7700 first bcoz it is easier and most efficient way to let every ground stations know my situation. But it comes out I was wrong. Why?” So you squawk 7700, then what? Do ground stations know your situation? No. All they know is that there is some kind of emergency, but not what it is. How are they going to find out what the problem is, what your intentions are, and how they can assist you? By trying to contact you and asking. Don’t you think it is actually far easier and quicker to click the PTT and put out a mayday call with all the information the ground station needs?

[-]

stikshift@reddit

Squawking 7700 is only going to do so much. Who's going to see it? And when they do see it, what information do they have other than you have some sort of emergency? I'm learning too, but my instructor taught me ABCDE for an in-flight engine failure: A: Airspeed. Hit the best glide and give yourself time. Don't panic. B: Best place to land. Where can you put it down and not kill yourself or people on the ground? C: Checklist. Try to get the engine restarted. Maybe one of the fuel tanks is starved or the mechanical fuel pump died. Can't get it restarted? Then... **D: Declare.** Whatever frequency you're on. 121.5 if you need to. SOMEONE is going to hear your mayday. Let everyone know on freq where you are and what's wrong. This is going to make finding your a LOT easier if you go down. After this THEN you can squawk 7700. E: ELT. Turn that sucker on.

[-]

Kon3v@reddit

If you are doing radio then you are early in your student path. You will soon lean that there is very limited radar and ATC coverage here. Heres an example scenario for you. You are flying from Christchurch to Wanaka on a cross country, there is a layer of cloud on the east side of the mountains at 5500 feet so you are under the layer in the mackenzie basin when your engine quits. Who is going to see your 7700 sqwak? The only primary and secondary radar in the south island is in Christchurch. There is no airways multilat surveillance in the mackenzie and the controllers are not watching you on FR24. The only way of you getting assistance is to use your radio to talk to the plane who is on the West Coast at 10,000 ft with both you and a tower in coverage. Note:If you are lucky fiscom is available down low All comes down to the 3 main rules, Aviate. Navigate. Communicate.

[-]

N546RV@reddit

Disclaimer: US pilot, not sure what might be different in the NZ. But I think the key here is the "rely on radar assistance" tidbit. What if you're not in radar coverage? What if you're not talking to ATC at all? The way I see it, the mayday call uses a more "universal" communication channel. Imagine you're near a small untowered airport when this happens. You pick the airport for your forced landing spot, but there are other aircraft in the pattern. Changing your squawk does nothing to inform those aircraft that there's an emergency inbound.

[-]

PermeableVampire@reddit

RTFQ. Yes 7700 is a good thing but are you going to rely on radar assistance? Aviation questions are constantly trying to trick you. RTFQ. Rtfa. Read it again. That's why it's confusing. They want it to be confusing.

[-]

rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity: --- This is the question [ You experience an engine failure during flight, you should fly the aircraft toward a suitable forced landing area and at a suitable time:](https://preview.redd.it/5r6m3rgfhf3g1.png?width=1083&format=png&auto=webp&s=bf7a4a523f36491aa896975797e18c50545e9f8a) I chose make 7700 first bcoz it is easier and most efficient way to let every ground stations know my situation. But it comes out I was wrong. Why? --- Please downvote this comment until it collapses. Questions about this comment? [Please see this wiki post before contacting the mods](https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/wiki/index/rflyingtower/). --- I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. If you have any questions, please [contact the mods of this subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/flying).