Fuel onboard during emergencies: gals/lbs or time?

[luvflyin]

I'm pretty sure the SWA capt (Tammie Jo?)....the one with the engine failure & rapid decompression, in which a pax was half-sucked out said that ATC worsened their helmet fire by asking such questions - and there was mental arithmetic required to figure out lbs vs time remaining during their emergency descent.
I would like to see guidance to ATC during emergencies changed to urgent/truly helpful information only, or information the pilot requests.....and eliminate questions. I would like to see an absolute minimum of chatter. Where is the nearest airport, where is the nearest vfr airport, obstruction hazards as you descend, vectors to the runway. No need to say I'm declaring an emergency for you, I'm rolling the equipment - just do it and we'll find out later.
After reading so many events where the pilot's headset was causing pain and distraction I said in my emergency I was either going to tell atc to can it for a while, or shut the radio off
But I have an unusual sensitivity to anything auditory compared to most.

Yeah. If the pilot says I’m getting down now, going there and landing, it’s a silly question. The intent of the question is for ATC to know how much time is available to deal with a situation. Like VFR pilots stuck up over the top looking for a suitable airport to land at. Maybe an unsafe gear warning or something like that where time isn’t critical but it’s nice to know.
The list in post # 7 above is prefaced by this below in the Controllers Handbook. We’ve already discussed about does crash crew care or not how much fuel is on board. They’re always going to want to know Souls on Board. In the case of airlines this can be obtained from the Companies dispatcher if the pilot isn’t responding. And yeah, some Controllers talk way to much. Pilots gotta take action to deal with it. Tell em to shut up in so many words or turn the radio off, volume down or tear of the headset.


10−2−1. INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS
a. Start assistance as soon as enough information has been obtained upon which to act. Information requirements will vary, depending on the existing situation. Minimum required information for inflight emergencies is:
NOTE−
In the event of an ELT signal see paragraph 10−2−10, Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) Signals.
1. Aircraft identification and type.
2. Nature of the emergency.
3. Pilot’s desires.
b. After initiating action, obtain the following items or any other pertinent information from the pilot or aircraft operator, as necessary:

 

[EdFred]

So I wrote <5 and you claim that’s not true, but offer up 3? Jesus Christ. Try not to be an ass.

Math is hard for some people.

Surprised he didn't also name drop in his repsonse.

 

[Timbeck2]

The bravado in this thread.

If you declare an emergency what do you expect ATC to do? They have to get information to roll the fire trucks at a minimum:
1. Aircraft identification
2. Type aircraft
3. Nature of emergency
4. Pilot's desires

That's it and can be said with the declaration and if you're already talking to approach control or any facility with a radar scope, #s 1 and 2 are already taken care of for you. Anything else - ATC understands "stand by" quite well. Nobody has to turn the radio off or rip off a headset.

 

[Velocity173]

Ugh. Once again, out of the controller’s manual. Pay attention to number 2.


As @luvflyin stated, the point in getting time in fuel is to determine how much time before they need to get that aircraft on the ground. If crash crew requests fuel in gals / lbs. Well that’s great and all but that’s not standard. What ATC requires is time. That’s standard. Even then, it’s “as necessary.” May or may not be needed depending on the situation.

 

[luvflyin]

The bravado in this thread.

If you declare an emergency what do you expect ATC to do? They have to get information to roll the fire trucks at a minimum:
1. Aircraft identification
2. Type aircraft
3. Nature of emergency
4. Pilot's desires

That's it and can be said with the declaration and if you're already talking to approach control or any facility with a radar scope, #s 1 and 2 are already taken care of for you. Anything else - ATC understands "stand by" quite well. Nobody has to turn the radio off or rip off a headset.

Aw c’mon. This is the perfect time to to tell a Controller to STFU and get away with it.