{"id":83,"date":"2023-08-31T18:41:36","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T00:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/?p=83"},"modified":"2023-08-31T18:54:08","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T00:54:08","slug":"lost-communications-and-electrical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/?p=83","title":{"rendered":"Lost Communications (and electrical)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In a recent post, I described how I experienced in-flight electrical failure, and therefore communications failure while in the traffic pattern at a controlled airport. This post contains additional references as a guide to what you should do if this happens to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Fly the airplane. (Aviate\u2026 Navigate\u2026 Communicate\u2026 You knew that already, right?) If you\u2019re all by yourself, in the dark, you will be busy. Trim to maintain altitude. Make sure you don\u2019t run into anything. Keep flying the traffic pattern.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Communicate. It\u2019s possible that you can still transmit, but simply not receive. The tower may actually still hear you, so it\u2019s worth transmitting in the blind just in case.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Transponder to 7600. It may stil work on whatever power you still have. Worth a try, at least to inform ATC you know you have a problem.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Try to solve the problem. If you can handle it, refer to your checklist. The checklist probably includes \u201ccycle the alternator switch\u201d which can reset a circuit breaker-type of thing. It\u2019s possible you\u2019re only running on battery power, so shedding extra load (turn off stuff you don\u2019t really need) could help allow you to use radios. (I hope you brought your flashlight with you and it\u2019s on a string around your neck for quick access!)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Join the pattern, go with the flow. Just like an uncontrolled field, being where others expect you to be is valuable (Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, FAA-H-8083-25A, chapter 13).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Watch for ATC light gun signals. When the tower realizes you are \u201cNORDO\u201d (no radio, i.e., lost communications), they will give you clearance by shining a colored light in your direction. The table below defines the meaning of the various colors and patterns (AIM 4-3-13). Acknowledge the signal if you get one (move ailerons or rudder, or flash landing or nav lights). If you\u2019re wondering what these light signals actually look like, ask the tower to show you next time you\u2019re on final.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Emergency authority. Remember that you can \u201cdeviate from any rule\u2026 to the extent required to meet that emergency\u201d (FAR 91.3 (b)). Use it if you need it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"552\" height=\"554\" src=\"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/lightgunsignals.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-79\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/lightgunsignals.png 552w, http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/lightgunsignals-300x300.png 300w, http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/lightgunsignals-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 552px) 100vw, 552px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"185\" height=\"307\" src=\"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/atclightgun.png\" alt=\"ATC light gun\" class=\"wp-image-78\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/atclightgun.png 185w, http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/atclightgun-181x300.png 181w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 185px) 100vw, 185px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent post, I described how I experienced in-flight electrical failure, and therefore communications failure while in the traffic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technique","category-vfr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93,"href":"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions\/93"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gpsaviation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}