Posted on 09/24/2005 7:47:55 AM PDT by martin_fierro
Pilot Accidentally Relays 'Hijack' Code
By The Associated Press Sat Sep 24, 5:47 AM ET
GEORGETOWN, S.C. - In the world of aviation, what's the difference between the codes 7600 and 7500? It turns out plenty of panic.
Deputies and a SWAT team surrounded a plane at the Georgetown County Airport after one of the pilots accidentally entered a code saying the aircraft has been hijacked.
State Ports Authority Chairman Harry Butler was flying the plane from Georgetown to Columbia on Thursday morning when he lost both radios.
The weather wasn't good enough to land in Columbia without the radio, so he turned back to the coast, where it was clear.
En route, his co-pilot sent a message on a signal device. He was supposed to type 7600, which means "lost communications." But instead, he punched in 7500, which reports a hijacking, Butler said.
Air traffic controllers in Myrtle Beach then notified federal authorities, who sent in the local deputies.
Butler said he had no idea what happened until he landed and a dozen deputies surrounded his plane. FBI agents and officials from the Federal Aviation Administration questioned the pair for about two hours, Butler said.
Wild Blue Yonder Ping.
"Never mind...."
Is it wise to report what the codes are and their meaning?
I have actually called "911" instead of "411" at times on the phone.
---FBI agents and officials from the Federal Aviation Administration questioned the pair for about two hours, Butler said.---
TWO HOURS? About what?
About the importance of placing one's chubby little fingers on the right buttons, I'd wager.
My first thought exactly.
In the Air Force we would rate this pilot Q3 for judgment and compliance (translation: busting a check ride for being dumb). Also I’m really glad they should told all the would be hijackers the IFF frequency to look for. The media strikes again in their shear stupidity to break a story.
There was another thread concerning a similar incident a few months ago. Some pilots discussed why this error is easy to make and how to avoid it.
In the Air Force we would rate this pilot Q3 for judgment and compliance (translation: busting a check ride for being dumb). Also I’m really glad they told all the would be hijackers the IFF frequency to look for. The media strikes again in their shear stupidity to break a story. (I hate it when I use bad grammar)
Thousands upon thousands of aviation folks know the codes so you better believe terrorists know them too. No secret there.
These aren't secrets.
Something that is learned fairly early in training for a private pilot license.
Distress calls are discussed in the FAA's Airmans Information Manual Here.
The way to prevent that is to enter the first number of the code last of all.
> En route, his co-pilot sent a message on a signal device.
Is this brain-damaged reporterspeak for:
"selected a code on the transponder"?
> He was supposed to type 7600, which means "lost
> communications."
Is "typed" correct? Or are transponders still largely
set by dials?
> But instead, he punched in 7500, which reports a
> hijacking, Butler said.
Way back when, pilots were taught to avoid even
passing through key codes in the 7xxx range while
dialing something else, lest they trigger all sorts
of unwanted attention.
LOL.....well, here's one former airplane driver who understands. I always thought that having those two transponder codes SO close (one digit difference) was stupid.
I guess I could have just asked my dad. He owned/flew a Piper Aerostar. Of course, I had to learn how to "land" it in case he ever had a heart attack while flying. He should have taught me the distress code too. LOL!
There in every private pilot manual.....
It's not a secret....
NeverGore :^)
Is there a transponder code for "pilot dead or unconscious"? Maybe this would have helped in the case of the Cypriot airline crash.
My daughter may have flown with your group this summer....She's an USAFA Cadet and her summer duty was spent in NJ working with base operations but she spent a couple of days flying in the "Boomers". I've got a picture of her sitting in the boom seat in-flight refueling a a large transport (C-130?)
Of course, I don't believe she fully operated the boom since there was a specialist in the seat next to her but it was still pretty cool. (For her and Dad)
NeverGore :^)
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