Emergencies Flashcards
During an emergency situation, what is the pilot’s most important task?
FLY THE AIRPLANE. To quote the POH directly: “In any emergency situation, the most important task is continued control of the airplane and maneuvering to execute a successful landing.”
You’re in the practice area working on maneuvers when the engine starts running slightly rough. What are you going to do?
Fly the airplane. Accomplish the appropriate memory items: carb heat on (if equipped), mixture adjust for max smoothness, fuel pump on, engine gauges check, magnetos check, adjust the throttle position. Refer to the checklist to verify compliance. If the roughness persists, or depending on the original cause of the roughness, I’ll head toward an airport and land as soon as practical. I will also notify ATC of the issue in order to prevent any undue delays getting a landing clearance, and I’ll be ready to declare an emergency and squawk 7700 as well, depending on whether the “slight” roughness worsens.
What are some possible causes of this rough-running engine?
Carb ice (if carbureted), mixture too lean or too rich, throttle idle with mixture full rich (such as during certain low-engine-speed maneuvers like power off stalls, or when approaching to land at high density altitude airports), detonation or pre-ignition (if climbing on a hot day, generally with the mixture too lean), fouled spark plugs, a magneto malfunction, engine-driven fuel pump failure, fuel starvation, water/contaminants in the fuel, excessive fuel vapor (if fuel injected), low oil pressure/oil leak.
How would you determine that the issue is carb ice?
After applying the carb heat, the ice will melt and dislodge from where it has accumulated, resulting in the ice draining through the system, causing additional engine roughness. This roughness will gradually smooth out, and eventually the RPM needle (or Manifold Pressure if flying a constant speed prop) will rise above where it was before when the ice was still present in the carburetor.
What should accompany any application of carb heat, and why?
Lean the mixture. Carb heat reduces the density of the air going into the engine. Leaning the mixture keeps the fuel/air ratio appropriate.
Say you check the left mag and the engine roughness becomes more pronounced. You switch to the right mag and the engine runs smoothly. What could be causing the roughness, and what will you do?
Fly the airplane. In this case, slight engine roughness is typically a sign of a fouled spark plug, so I’ll lean the mixture while staying in the vicinity of (or heading to) an airport and wait for the problem to clear up, verifying everything with the checklist. If the issue doesn’t clear up, I’ll operate on both mags if able, and if not, then on the good mag, and land as soon as practical. Sudden onset roughness or misfiring, on the other hand, would indicate a magneto problem. If that were the case I would try to operate on BOTH magnetos if possible; if not, I’d change to the good mag and continue to the nearest airport. I would be sure to utilize the checklist and communicate as appropriate with ATC.
You notice a sudden reduction in the fuel flow indication (FFLOW GPH) immediately before a loss of power while operating from a fuel tank containing adequate fuel. What’s the issue and what are you going to do?
Engine driven fuel pump failure. Fly the airplane, turn on the aux fuel pump switch, run the appropriate checklist, and land as soon as practical. Be prepared to potentially declare an emergency and squawk 7700.
What signals low oil pressure in your aircraft? Low
oil annunciator. Also, the oil pressure gauge on the engine page or the oil psi on the system page should read low.
As oil pressure is lost, what would you expect the oil temperature to indicate, and why?
Oil temperature will rise. One of the purposes of oil is to cool the engine, so if oil is lost, temp will rise.
You’re enroute and the low oil pressure annunciator illuminates. You check your oil pressure gauge and it indicates low, slightly inside the red band; oil temperature is elevated and rising. What is the major concern here, and what are you going to do?
The concern is that there is an oil leak that could lead to an engine failure. I’ll fly the airplane, reduce power immediately in order to coddle the engine, run the appropriate checklist, and look to land immediately, possibly even doing a forced landing if there is no airport in the immediate vicinity and depending on how the engine feels. I will also declare an emergency and squawk 7700.
Say you’re climbing out of an airport in the Phoenix area in the summer and your oil temperature gauge indicates high, but within the green range. What will you do?
Fly the airplane while doing what I can to cool off the engine: pitch down to increase airspeed and airflow over the engine; enrichen the mixture; reduce throttle. If the engine doesn’t cool off, I’ll consider heading back to my departure airport.
In a fuel injected 172, you fly into the clouds and rapidly begin picking up rime ice on the wing struts. If the induction air filter becomes blocked with ice as well, what will you expect to happen? How will you get alternate induction air to the engine?
The blockage will cause suction generated from the engine to open a door inside the lower cowl area which will allow alternate induction air into the engine. The process is automatic - no pilot action required. A 10% approximate power loss can be expected.
ATC sets you up for a slam dunk approach (i.e. brings you in high, requiring a steep descent angle) in a carbureted 172. You’re in IMC and the temperature gauge shows 10 degrees celsius. What’s the big concern here, and what will you do to negate it?
This approach will likely require a rapid descent at low power settings, a configuration prone to accruing carb ice. To prevent this, preemptively apply carb heat and lean the mixture.
You’re enroute in a carburated 172. The OAT is 0 degrees celsius. Unwisely, you enter IMC and immediately start picking up structural ice. Suddenly, the engine struggles for a bit, then quits. What do you think happened?
The air induction source is blocked with ice.
How do you get alternate air to the engine?
Apply carb heat.
You’re practicing maneuvers about 30 miles away from your home airport (it’s the nearest airport) when you hear a warning tone and notice a LOW FUEL L annunciator message. What does this annunciator tell you?
Means that the fuel quantity in the left tank is less than 5 gallons and has remained that way for more than 60 seconds.
You’re practicing maneuvers about 30 miles away from your home airport (it’s the nearest airport) when you hear a warning tone and notice a LOW FUEL L annunciator message. Your fuel indicator shows 7 gallons on the right tank. What are you going to do?
Fly the airplane. Use the fuel selector to select the RIGHT tank, and head to the nearest airport. When close, I’ll return the fuel selector to the BOTH position prior to descending to land, as the RIGHT and LEFT positions are for straight-and-level flight only.
Say that as you approach your destination, your low fuel levels are such that you cannot accept any undue delays. What would you declare?
“Minimum fuel.”
