I was reading this question about how do pilots send distress signals in emergency scenarios, and that got me thinking...
In voretaq7's answer, he states that there are three ways to send distress signals, one of them is by the aircraft's transponder
Three transponder codes are reserved for unusual/emergency situations:
-7700
for general emergencies.
-7600
for loss of communication (radio failure).
-7500
for hijacking or other unlawful interference.
I can understand the reason to squawk both 7500
and 7600
in the appropriate situation, but I'm failing to understand why squawk 7700
in an emergency scenario.
So that's what I'm thinking:
In case of a hijack, the ability to squawk
7500
to silent alert the ATC of the situation, without the hijacker knowing, is an advantage.In case of a radio failure, where you can't alert the ATC over the radio, the ability to squawk
7600
and make them aware of your situation, is an advantage.In case of emergency, where the pilots are trying to handle a lot of things (high workload scenario), to stop everything to configure the aircraft's transponder, when they are communicating with the ATC by radio, doesn't seem like a good thing to do.
So, finally, here are my questions:
- Is it common for pilots to squawk
7700
in emergency scenarios? - What are the advantages, for the pilots, to squawk
7700
in emergencies situations?