A short conversational instructional video (Kenny Keller and others) answering a question from helicopter airline ground school: how to handle entering controlled airspace if radios fail. Key points: you must not enter controlled airspace without permission; if radios fail and you are squawking, set transponder code 7600 and expect ATC to use light gun signals; the speakers quickly review flight light-gun indications (steady green: clear to land; flashing green: return for landing; steady red: give way/continue circling; flashing red: airport unsafe — do not land). The video emphasizes these items are commonly tested on checkrides and references FAR/AIM traffic control light signals.
Questions this video answers
7600
Clear to land
Return for landing
Give way and continue circling
Airport unsafe — do not land
Chapters
If you lose radios, how would you ask permission to enter controlled airspace to get the light signals to land? This is a question that came up inside of helicopter airline ground schools. One of our members asked and we thought that's a great question because are you just going to go busting in through the airspace and hopefully they're going to start flashing lights at you? Probably not a good idea, is it?
Probably not. Might be in a little bit of trouble there.
We want to point out that light gun signals is one on checkrides that our examiner pretty much usually asks and you should be prepared on any checkride to answer these. And this is one that I can tell you with all the evaluating pilots I do get them ready for checkrides. This is one that almost everybody stumbles on is light gun signals and including me. If I was taking a checkride tomorrow, I would. This is one of the things I would have to review. And you mentioned earlier what a lot of pilots do, which is.
Yeah, the knee board. Yeah, I remember when I used to have a knee board that was one of the cheat sheets that they always came with. It was the light gun signal so you could quickly just look down and there it was. And I'm like you, I'd have to study too. I don't know the.
Yeah, I'm admitted. So it's not only. It's something we know ourselves is whatever reason. I guess unless you're just reviewing them once a month, you just forget them. And it kind of consistently I'll ask people getting for a check ride, they're like, ah, I don't remember those. You need to know those. When you go for a check ride, the examiner is going to ask yeah, if you were approaching an airspace and realized that you didn't, your radios weren't working, you'd be violating that airspace. If you go busting in there waiting for them to send you light gun signals. So the answer would be yes, you should divert to an airport or go fly around, see if you can get your radio working. Because you can't enter the airspace without permission. Even on a Clash Charlie, you don't need permission technically, but you need to hear the your TEL numbers in order to enter. So without radio communication you could technically, unless you had an emergency, you can't enter that airspace. If your radio is not working, you're not going to be able to get in.
Right. We know that Bravo airspace, you have to hear the words cleared into Bravo airspace or something like that. We know in Charlie airspace and in delta you have to hear Your tail number come back. So if you were not. We were discussing this earlier. If you were not on a flight plan, meaning you weren't squawking with anybody then. No, I would not. You can't go busting in there and you know, and then ask, or you can't even ask, I guess, then try to land. But if you were squawking and you were on with somebody then, and you lost radio comms, then there's a procedure for that, which is 7,600.
Oh, yeah, yeah, right. Squat codes, that's another one that people that you're going to get asked on a checkride. Correct. Hands down, every single checkride examiner is going to ask you about the squat codes.
So back to the question. If I was on an IFR flight or a VFR flight plan even, and I am squawking a code and I lose my radio radios going into a Charlie, then I would continue on. I would squawk the 7,600 showing I'm having radio problems. And then as you get closer, expect to get light gun signals from the tower.
Yeah.
What do you think?
I think that sounds perfect.
And then I would be looking at my cheat sheet trying to figure out what, what signals I want. I'm looking from what, a steady green. Is that what I'm looking for?
Yeah, we can cover them real quick. Surface.
I don't do surface. Go to flight.
Flight. I'm flying in flight. You get steady green, clear to land. Clear to land. You get green flashing. Return for land. You get solid red, give way and continue circling. Circling, circling. And if you get. Say that three times. And if you got. If you got flashing red, airport unsafe. Do not land. Was those correct?
That's what I got. Okay, so you can look at this. I'm in the FAR aim under 4, 3, 13 traffic control light signals. There's more information there for you.
All right, we've got another, like 15 videos to go before we're done with this series of videos. So put down below what else you'd like to see. Because we were sitting around today going, okay, what are we gonna talk about next? And we just pulled something. That was a great question from Inside Hogs. And you know, askhogs.com we have a clone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can check out the clone@askhogs.com and leave us a comment below. And I say, let's go do something else.
Can I say it? Peace out.
When you feel the pressure to fly, but know the right decision is to stay on the ground. Hit the hogs. No. Go. And live to fly another day.
Helicopterground.com picking your nose and picking your ass. And she'll edit that out. We won't put that at the end.
