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ANAC Private Pilot Helicopter (PPH) study materials
ANAC Private Pilot Helicopter (PPH) study resources

ANAC Private Pilot Helicopter (PPH) (ANAC): Radio Failure in Controlled Airspace

ANAC Private Pilot Helicopter (PPH) · Put your knowledge to work in context.

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Radio Failure in Controlled Airspace

You are flying VFR in a light helicopter toward a controlled aerodrome. You have been cleared to enter the control zone and to report on final. Shortly after entering the zone, your VHF radio fails completely: you can hear nothing and transmit nothing. You are squawking a discrete code assigned by ATC. Weather is VMC, visibility 15 km, cloud base well above your altitude. You are 6 NM from the threshold, at 1,500 ft, and the tower is busy with commercial traffic.

1. State the actions you should take and the order in which you take them.

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  1. Squawk 7600 to indicate radio failure.
  2. Continue to comply with the last clearance you received, which was to report on final. Since you cannot report, you must make your presence known by other means.
  3. Watch for light signals from the tower. A steady green means cleared to land; a flashing green means cleared to land but return to the apron; a red means give way and continue circling; a flashing red means aerodrome unsafe, do not land.
  4. Keep the pattern predictable and do not cut across other traffic. Maintain VMC and standard circuit direction.
  5. After landing, vacate and stop, then contact ATC by telephone or other means.

Do not enter IMC or leave the zone without a clearance. If no light signal is received, remain clear of the runway and consider diverting.

2. If you receive a steady red light while on approach, what does it mean and what do you do?

Read the worked answer

A steady red light means give way to other aircraft and continue circling. It is not a landing clearance and it is not an instruction to leave the zone. You should break off the approach, climb back to pattern altitude, and continue to circle clear of the approach path while continuing to watch for further signals. Because the tower is busy, expect to hold for some time. Maintain your own traffic scan and keep the aircraft positioned so that you can comply immediately with a subsequent green light. If fuel becomes a concern, divert rather than continue to hold.