NORDO

This past weekend on our way to Wichita with flight following, we were picking up a high-pitched whine in our headsets. It was something we have never heard before. I turned down the radios and things to see if that was where it was coming from. (It wasn't the radio's) Anyway, 20 minutes of flying go by and it comes to mind that the radio had been quiet. We've experienced this before with flight following but I glanced down at the radio only to notice that the volume knob was turned down! Ooops... so I turned it back up and just as I did I heard a blind call for 523 Romeo Victor. I replied and it was a United flight with a new frequency for me. I tuned to the new frequency and checked in.

No biggie but 2 minutes later a familiar voice come on asking me why we went NORDO! It was Nathan Larson who is a supervisor at the KC ARTCC and a fellow RV-9A flyer. He just happened to be supervising the sector I was flying through. The controller who was trying to raise me grabbed him to let him know some goofball flying an experimental went NORDO on him. Of course as soon as Nathan saw the tail numbers he knew it was me. He actually called my cell phone to see if I would answer. (I didn't) He asked why we went NORDO, to which I explained an unusual sound, and where we were headed. After landing in Wichita, I called him on the phone just to make sure I wasn't in hot water or had caused any trouble. (I wasn't/I hadn't) They had only been trying to reach us for a couple of minutes.

So lesson learned! Don't forget to turn up the radio's after you've turned them down!

High Pitched Whine

Do you have ANR headsets?

Alternator Diodes

Is your voltage normal? When one or more alternator diodes go, it will induce a whine in the audio system.

So, what happens when you have flight following and go NORDO? I remember once the controller forgot to hand me off and it got to where I could no longer receive her transmissions...I didn't know what else to do but squawk 1200 and go on my way. What is the proper procedure?

Restablish Contact

The best thing to do would be to re-establish contact either through a FSS frequency or with another center frequency. My 89B GPS has a "nearest" feature for center frequencies. My understanding is that if you are on flight following and for some reason it doesn't get closed/terminated, they have to account for your whereabouts.

Here is a quote from the AIM. This section isn't specifically for the issue at hand but provides some good guidance.

6-4-3. Reestablishing Radio Contact

a. In addition to monitoring the NAVAID voice feature, the pilot should attempt to reestablish communications by attempting contact:

1. On the previously assigned frequency; or

2. With an FSS or *ARINC.

b. If communications are established with an FSS or ARINC, the pilot should advise that radio communications on the previously assigned frequency has been lost giving the aircraft's position, altitude, last assigned frequency and then request further clearance from the controlling facility. The preceding does not preclude the use of 121.5 MHz. There is no priority on which action should be attempted first. If the capability exists, do all at the same time.

NOTE-
*Aeronautical Radio/Incorporated (ARINC) is a commercial communications corporation which designs, constructs, operates, leases or otherwise engages in radio activities serving the aviation community. ARINC has the capability of relaying information to/from ATC facilities throughout the country.

jmbaute said:

So, what happens when you have flight following and go NORDO? I remember once the controller forgot to hand me off and it got to where I could no longer receive her transmissions...I didn't know what else to do but squawk 1200 and go on my way. What is the proper procedure?

Click to expand...

If you are getting flight following, or for that matter are on an instrument flight plan, and you haven't heard from anyone in 15 minutes or so, start looking. If you carry a copy of the IFR enroute chart for the area you are flying in, look up the frequency there. If you have a GPS on board, most of them will have the "approach freq" for a nearby airport in the info database. This "approach" may be center, may be an actual approach control. Go to that freq, they should be able to get you to the correct one. Tune your radio to 121.5 and broadcast. Many Aircarrier aircraft monitor that emergency freq, and they will be able to contact center and get you to the correct one. Call flight service on the nearest freq, they also should be able to help. The issue with getting flight following and going NORDO if you are NORDO, and then we happen to lose you in radar coverage, you have just become an accident/missing aircraft in the eyes of ATC. Many times this will happen when an a/c getting flight following to airport ABC decides to make an unscheduled pitstop at airport DEF. Then a/c starts a descent, drops below radar coverage, and changes to the CTAF for DEF. We in ATC will now start the process of finding you. This may involve many entities: FSS, CAP, Local law enforcement, Alert notices, Calling you spouse at home ( always one of my favorites" Hello, ma'am this is Nate from ZKC, your husbands airplane is missing" as you can imagine, calls along these lines are not fun. If you go nordo, and decide to squawk 1200, if the controller happens to be looking at you when the switch is made, all is well. But as you can imagine, controllers are not staring at a VFR flight following target just to see if you squawk VFR. Generally they will notice that the track is in coast status, I.E. it doesn't have a radar target associated with it, they will broadcast for you on the appropriate freq, and all others in the area. If they can't get you the fun begins.
I hope that this diatribe has not discouraged any of you from getting flight following, I personally either file IFR or get FF for any flight outside the local area. I just ask that if you want to change your plans, want to terminate or whatever, just let us know. I also don't want you to think that it is always the pilot's fault. More times than I care to admit, we forget to switch you to the next frequency until it is too late to reach you.

Hope this helps a little, and thank you to Matt for posting this here so we can discuss this important topic.

Nathan Larson
N217JT RV9E 506 hours of pure liquid cooled fun
S/ATCS ZKC