A2A Simulations Accu-Sim Emergency?

[Ben Fan 1392211]

Hi,

 

I was flying circuits at YSTW yesterday and my engine (A2A PA28 Accu-Sim) went out, I wasn't sure if I was allowed to declare an emergency, so I kept my mouth shut and just managed to glide the plane back to YSTW. So, just wondering, if A2A planes have an issue on flight, am I allowed to declare emergency, even though I haven't asked the controller for permission, as the plane is actually damaged, not trying to simulate an emergency.

[Nicholas Cavacini]

You do not have to ask a controller for permission, you only are required to terminate the emergency if requested. If you are unwilling or unable to terminate an emergency, you will need to complete the rest of the flight offline.

[Kenneth Haught]

Hi,

 

I was flying circuits at YSTW yesterday and my engine (A2A PA28 Accu-Sim) went out, I wasn't sure if I was allowed to declare an emergency, so I kept my mouth shut and just managed to glide the plane back to YSTW. So, just wondering, if A2A planes have an issue on flight, am I allowed to declare emergency, even though I haven't asked the controller for permission, as the plane is actually damaged, not trying to simulate an emergency.

 

Short answer, is "maybe". Emergencies must be approved by ATC. Per the VATSIM Code of Conduct section B8...

 

"Pilots are permitted to declare in-flight emergencies only when under positive air traffic control. If there is no air traffic controller providing services to the pilot and surrounding traffic, declaring an in-flight emergency is not permitted. If, for any reason, air traffic control requests the pilot to terminate the emergency, then the pilot must do so IMMEDIATELY or log off of VATSIM. Pilots are not permitted to simulate, in any manner, an unlawful act while logged onto the VATSIM.net network including, but not limited to, declaring a hijack by statement utilizing either voice or text or by entering a transponder code of 7500."

 

So, you can absolutely simulate an emergency, but if ATC tells you to discontinue it you have to either 1) resume normal operations, or 2) disconnect from the network and continue offline until you get it resolved. It is not permitted to simulate emergencies when no ATC is available as it could cause conflicts with area traffic.

[Bradley Grafelman]

It is not permitted to simulate emergencies when no ATC is available as it could cause conflicts with area traffic.

Correction: It is not permitted to declare emergencies when no ATC is available.

 

If you have an emergency with no ATC available, there's nothing that says you can't respond to it as appropriate - just don't "declare" it via UNICOM or beacon code.

[Ben Fan 1392211]

Thanks everyone, I'll try my best to avoid any emergencies in the first place, they aren't really fun to deal with, especially in real life.

[Robert Shearman Jr]

Right-on. The spirit of the rule (in my opinion/understanding) is to prevent the abuse of declaring emergencies to appoint ones-self priority landing over other users. There's nothing wrong with handling a properly simulated emergency while connected (and declaring it while under ATC) as long as it doesn't unduly disrupt anyone else.