Short Final: Be Careful What You Wish For

Credit: Oshkosh Truck
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • An instructor and student pilot experienced an intermittent avionics failure followed by a complete loss of radio communication (NORDO) while flying into Class Bravo airspace.
  • They were forced to squawk 7700 (emergency transponder code) and successfully landed at the tower-controlled airport using light gun signals.
  • Upon landing, they were greeted by multiple fire trucks, unexpectedly fulfilling the student's stated interest in emergency vehicles due to the actual emergency.
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From IFR Magazine reader Luca Bencini-Tibo

When I was serving as an instructor during a type-club flight clinic, an owner-pilot student and I were preparing to return to a tower-controlled airport within Class Bravo airspace. The owner had previously mentioned that he is a fire truck enthusiast—he liked the big ones.

Wanting to provide customer-centric service, I said, “Just squawk 7700 and see what happens.” As it turned out, we experienced an intermittent avionics failure en route, and after a couple of on-off cycles, I actually did squawk 7700. We were NORDO, but with some luck, we landed with the light-gun signals and no further issues.

And yes, we were greeted by a half-dozen fire trucks with all lights flashing.

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