Operational Procedures and Emergency Handling
This domain tests what you do when something goes wrong: emergencies, alerting and search and rescue, unusual situations, and coordination with other units. Answers are judged on sequence and priority, not just on naming the right code.
Emergency handling
- Distress calls use MAYDAY (three times), urgency calls use PAN PAN. A declared emergency grants priority and, where necessary, exemption from rules; the controller provides assistance, separates the aircraft, and avoids unnecessary questions.
- SSR codes: 7700 emergency, 7600 radio failure, 7500 unlawful interference. The code supplements, never replaces, voice communication.
- Emergency descent: acknowledge, clear the aircraft, broadcast traffic information to other aircraft, and advise the next unit. Do not delay the descent for coordination.
Alerting service
- INCERFA: uncertainty about an aircraft's safety. ALERFA: apprehension. DETRESFA: distress phase. Phases trigger notification to the rescue coordination centre, which runs the SAR operation (Annex 12); ATC supports it.
- Overdue aircraft: check communications, try alternate frequencies and other units, and escalate on a defined timeline. ELTs transmit on 406 MHz to the COSPAS-SARSAT system.
Unusual situations
Bomb threat, hijack in flight or on the ground, bird strike, runway incursion, go-around, fuel emergency, unlawful interference with an aircraft on the ground (isolate it, do not transmit sensitive information).
Coordination
Handoffs, point-outs and AIDC transfers follow letters of agreement; a handoff is complete when the receiving unit accepts.
Worked example
An aircraft reports engine failure 30 NM from the aerodrome. Reasoning and order: acknowledge and confirm intentions and persons on board; give priority and separate other traffic; alert the tower, fire and rescue, and the supervisor; offer vectors and information; keep the frequency clear; record times; notify the rescue coordination centre if the situation deteriorates. Sequence matters more than speed of speech.
Traps
Interrogating a pilot in distress before giving assistance; assuming intentions rather than asking when time allows; forgetting the adjacent unit during an emergency descent; confusing 7500 with 7600; treating an alerting phase as optional notification.