If the communication between pilot & the airport tower is lost how the pilot is going to land. is it by guess?

Question

If the communication between pilot & the airport tower is lost how the pilot is going to land. is it by guess?

Answer 1

Well in my day you entered the pattern and waited for a light (B-4 light gun)

But that was a long, long time ago

Answer 2

this question is dependent on wether the pilot if flying VFR or IFR.

If the flight is VFR, the pilot can circle above the traffic pattern, and squawk 7700 on the transponder, which will tell controllers he is lost comm, and wait for light gun signals.

if the flight is IFR, then the flight is flown by filed, or route assigned for by ATC,or route told to expect, the pilot will squawk 7700, and proceed to the last assigned, told to expect or filed fix, where they can proceed to the airport of landing and land at their ETA.  

Answer 3

A pilot on a VFR flight should land as soon as practical and should avoid controlled airspace, however if the pilot is on a VFR or IFR flight plan they may continue to their destination under the Federal Aviation Regulations for lost communication.  

This essentially means that they continue along the flight as their original plan showed, going from point to point exactly as agreed upon with the air traffic controllers and arriving at the airport at the time they designated on the flight plan.  

Answer 4

Looks like a lot of informative answers here.  If your question is "how can a pilot be CLEARED to land" by the tower when radio comms are lost, the tower can use the hand-held Aldis lamp signaling device that Warbird Pilot referred to as a light gun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_lamp...  The only problem with this method is in the tower personnel having sufficient situational awareness so as to break the light out in the first place and use it correctly since it's not needed often at congested airports or military bases (and people seem to forget things they don't use).  A military pilot in the right circumstance might try to grab a wingman if applicable and have the good-radio aircraft drop him off.

If a pilot is approaching a controlled field VFR without comms under the rules mentioned above, it is still his responsibility to see, avoid, communicate if possible/"in the blind," and ensure a safe landing clear of traffic (that's not saying you can come barreling into a controlled field without a clearance to land at your leisure).

**added info: I forgot to mention one other possibility and that is that some VORs associated with airfields have voice capability, so listening to the VOR can yield a human voice trying to contact you or provide general information. Some VORs simply broadcast ATIS in between identifiers.

Oh yea, and what's up with the thumbs-down trolls who run around here? There is excellent information in all of these answers and no one is out of line so why be such a loser and give everyone a thumbs-down? -- must not be a pilot, hmmm, I see. Sucks to be you.

Answer 5

It depends on the circumstances. But the simplest answer is this -- if any equipment failure creates a genuine emergency, a pilot can do whatever he needs to in order to land his plane safely. Other traffic will get out of the way.

For a small plane flying VFR, so long as they're not in class Bravo at the time, this isn't a big deal at all. You just set your transponder to indicate lost communication and either maintain your heading or turn out of controlled airspace. You can then land at any uncontrolled airport. (Most airports are uncontrolled and radio is not required to land at them or takeoff from them.)

If you're already inbound to land at a controlled airport, you can continue inbound as agreed. Set your transponder for lost communications and wait for a light gun signal. The tower will follow a standard lost communications procedure.

They will ask you a few times to reply. If they see you squawk lost communication or emergency, they will react appropriately. If not, they will likely ask you to ident (send them a special signal using your transponder). If you ident, they'll know you can hear them but not transmit, and they'll tell you want to do. If not, they'll assume lost communications procedure and move aircraft out of your way.

If you're flying IFR, you basically follow a standard set of assumptions (that everything will happen when it was supposed to) and everyone else will make that work. This is what a commercial aircraft would do if it lost communications.

A small plane flying IFR that is in good weather conditions can simply cancel IFR if communications are lost. In that case, you would simply set your transponder for VFR rather than lost communications and fly to class E airspace if you're not already in it. A commercial airliner carrying passengers would never do this.

Lost communications is only serious in a rare combination of circumstances. For example, if you're flying in bad weather in the mountains and may need help to get around thunderstorms. But you shouldn't be in conditions like that anyway without your own weather radar at minimum.

It's not a standard or approved practice, but if you have a cell phone and are low down, you can always call the tower.

Answer 6

This is not a guessing game. Every country has a civil aviation authority that establishes standard procedures based on ICAO SARPs on situations like this. This is detailed in every Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) of every country. So check it out for details.

Answer 7

Airplanes don't fly because of Marconi, they fly because of Bernouli.

VFR, continue as planned, IFR -- AVE FAME (for heading; Advised, Vectored, Expected.  For altitude; Filed, Advised, Minimum, Expected).

Towers have light guns and I have flown many airplanes with no radio and no battery.

Answer 8

When radio communication is lost, the pilot will change his transponder squawk code to 7600 (this is the lost communications code; 7500 is for hijacking and 7700 is for general emergencies).  This will show up on the air traffic controller's radar, and will alert them that the aircraft's communication radios have failed.

From here, the procedures will vary depending on the situation.  Generally, if the pilot is in visual flight rule (VFR) conditions (basically means the weather is good), he will continue to a suitable airport to land by using visual references to help him navigate to that airport and land.

If the pilot is flying under instrument flight rule (IFR) conditions and flying in the clouds with no visual ground references, the Federal Aviation Regulations basically say that the pilot will continue to the fix (a point defined by navigation radios) that he is cleared to, and then perform an instrument approach using the aircraft's navigation equipment to guide him on an approach path to a suitable runway at the destination airport.  Again, this is basically how it works under IFR without getting into too much jargon.

While the pilot is approaching and landing at an airport, whether it is in VFR or IFR conditions, air traffic control will help the pilot out by talking to other aircraft and keeping them out of the way to allow him to land.