wrote:
I am very surprised that no one here, let alone yourself, thought of
the obvious: contact Reno Approach and advise them of your situation.
That would have alerted them to check for any possible conflicts and
clear the area around you of other traffic until you could get clear
of Class A airspace. You were negligent - and in violation of FARs -
by not doing this. Reno could have easily cleared you into Class A
until you could take appropriate actions. We ARE allowed to violate
FARs in an emergency, but this does not relieve you of your
responsibility to minimize the violation to the extent possible.
Fortunately, you were carrying a transponder...

Doesn't this run contrary to the standard mantra of Aviate, Navigate,
Communicate? When something bad happens, first thing you do is fly the
plane. When you're exceeding your Vne by a large factor the first step
should be to quickly reduce speed. Talking to the controlling authority of
the airspace you're violating while doing so is a good idea but it should
come dead last on the priority list. From the way the story was told, it
sounded like by the time the pilot could catch his breath and stop
worrying about his imminent demise long enough to devote some attention to
the radio, he was already back below the class A.

--
Michael Ash
Rogue Amoeba Software