In article ,
(Mike Ciholas) wrote:

I had a "discussion" with my instructor about lost comms in IMC after
a radar vector. To illustrate, consider this scenario (gratuitously
enhanced with specifics):

Depart BJC (Boulder, CO) for a flight to EVV (Evansville, IN). You
expect the flight to take 4:30. You depart at 1200Z. Once airborne,
you get established on a clearance route and you realize that the
tailwinds are much stronger than forecast. After 3 hours have passed,
you find the GPS saying EVV is only another 30 minutes enroute (thus
the flight now should take 3:30 instead of 4:30). You get the ATIS,
using ILS RWY 22, relatively low IMC conditions at EVV. ATC then
gives you a radar vector to bias your flight path north for the
approach.

I'm not sure what "bias" means, but I'm assuming he said something like,
"turn left heading 030, vectors for the approach".

What do you do?

Shoot the approach, land, taxi off the runway, wait for the "follow me"
truck to come out and get you.

The overwhelmingly most likely scenario is that they've still got you on
radar. Your transponder is probably still working. Even if it's not
(total electrical failure?), they've probably still got a primary
target. They'll watch you and clear everybody away.

What's the other possibility? That they don't know where you are? In
which case you're going to burn circles in the sky at the OM for an
hour? Get real.

My instructors answer was this: when lost comms is noticed and no
attemp to establish alternate comms works, then proceed to the outer
marker of the ILS22 approach (VICCI) and hold as diagrammed until your
flight planned expected arrival time, then shoot the approach.

That's the correct book answer. Unfortunately, it's the wrong real-life
answer.

I thought that was silly and said that if presented with the above
situation, I would disregard the book in favor of what I perceived to
be the best response to the situation, namely get on the ground in the
simplest and most straightforward way so I don't clog up airspace as a
no comm airplane. I also was not going to do holds for an hour, in
IMC, with some sort of failure which may grow to encompass more than
the radios.

Sounds like a well-thought out analysis of the situation. You've got a
lot more common sense than your instructor.

I had a lost comm once. We lost the ability to transmit (turned out to
be a stuck relay in the audio panel) immediately after takeoff. We
could hear ATC, but they could not hear us (they said they were getting
carrier only, no voice). They told us to "follow the flight planned
route", which we did until we got near the ILS. Our flight planned
route would take us past the airport, then we'd have to double back to
get to the ILS. Instead, we left the airway and intercepted the
localizer about 10 miles out. Saved us probably about 20-25 miles of
back-and-forth. As soon as we did that, ATC said, "You appear to be
flying the ILS-16, cleared ILS approach". We landed, called the tower
to assure them we were OK, and that was that.

BTW, if you ever think you're going to lose comm (say, the lights are
slowly diming and the radios are getting crackly), be pro-active. Make
a plan and tell the controller what it is while you still can so
everybody's on the same page.