On Sat, 24 Feb 2007 16:26:46 -0800, C J Campbell
wrote:

There is some sort of myth that a pilot has to say the magic words "declaring
an emergency" before it becomes an emergency in the eyes of either the FAA or
the pilot or the law. There is no such requirement. What if the pilot passes
out? Is it not an emergency just because the pilot doesn't say it is? When
you are low fuel and require special handling, it is an emergency, whether
anyone has actually 'declared' it or not.

FWIW, I've had airplane problems where ATC has asked me "would you
like to declare?"

Fortunately, I've always been able to reply to the negative, but
declaring does have some significance.