English
Welcome to the test Unexpected Situations – 16.
This test contains 3 situations that you can choose from the menu on the left-hand side of this page. Always try to answer before reading the expected answer!
ATC: Latam17 Fire fighters are still chasing the dog from your flight. It is still loose. They are requesting you to disembark the passenger that owns the dog.
PILOT: Porto Alegre Tower Latam17 Roger. Due to a long delay, our passengers are complaining. We will make an announcement to find the owner of the pet
EXAMINER: Now tell me in your own words everything the pilot and controller said.
I understood the controller informed the pilot that the fire fighters were still chasing the dog from their flight because it was loose. The controller also informed that the fire fighters were requesting to disembark the passenger that owns the dog.
The pilot understood the situation and informed the controller that due to long delay the passengers were complaining and that they made an announcement to find the owner of the pet.
EXAMINER:What are the risks of carrying pets onboard?
Well there are no direct risks related to the flight safety, but the ground staff must follow all procedures to make sure the animals are transported correctly that way they are able prevent any problems that could come up.
EXAMINER: Now listen to situation number 2.
PILOT: Mayday Mayday Mayday Speedbird197 We had an engine flameout. We request to descend right away. The aircraft is losing altitude rapidly.
ATC: Speedbird197 Roger your emergency. Descend at your discretion to FL120. State remaining fuel and souls onboard.
EXAMINER: Now tell me in your own words everything the pilot and controller said.
The pilots declared an emergency due to an engine flameout, so they requested to descend immediately because the aircraft was losing altitude rapidly.
The controller understood the situation and cleared the pilot to descend at their discretion to flight level 120 and requested them to inform remaining fuel and souls onboard.
EXAMINER: From your point of view why is it important to state the number of souls onboard?
In case of an emergency it is important to state the number of souls onboard to have the adequate assistance on the ground prepared to assist all those in need.
EXAMINER: Now situation number 3.
PILOT: Panpan Panpan Panpan Buenos Aires Approach Gol 07 We lost one engine. We need to dump some fuel and return to land.
ATC: Gol 07, Roger Proceed to Rosario area to dump fuel. FL310. Report ready to return.
EXAMINER: Now tell me in your own words everything the pilot and controller said.
I understood the pilots declared urgency to the controller because they had lost one engine so they needed to dump some fuel and return to land.
The controller understood the situation and requested the pilot to proceed to Rosario area to dump fuel at flight level 310. The controller also requested the pilot to report when ready to return.
EXAMINER: How are aircraft that are unable to dump fuel able to reduce the weight of the aircraft?
As most narrow body aircraft are unable to dump fuel they must burn fuel if they have time to do so. The pilots must request are area to hold and perform holding patterns to reduce the weight of the airplane.
EXAMINER: Now, considering the three situations you have heard in part three: How would you compare them? You may want to compare them in terms of severity, possible solutions and ways of prevention. Which one do you think is the most difficult to deal with? Why?
In my opinion, the dog loose is the least serious situation to deal with because the pilot only needs to return to the gate and disembark the owner of the pet. The consequences of this situation are financial loss to the company, flight delays or even flight cancellation.
Engine failure is worse than the dog loose because the aircraft is flying, the pilot needs to dump fuel to avoid an overweight landing and then return to land causing flight delays, flight cancellations, or even an emergency landing depending on the case.
However, engine flameout is the worst situation to deal with because as the pilots were losing altitude rapidly this could easily lead to a disaster.
I believe that the best methods of prevention for these situations are good maintenance, constant training, and reliable backup systems.
EXAMINER: Thank you. That is the end of part three.