"tscottme" wrote in message
...
In nearly all cases all that happens
when declaring an emergency is you get all the help there is to be offered
and priority handling by ATC. In fact, there's a lot less chance you will
be hassled by anyone for some minor technical FAR violation if you have
declared the emergency.

I've never had to declare an emergency so far (my alternator died in
mid-taxi once, and was noticed during the run-up checks, and I had a radio
PTT switch break but simply plugged into the right-hand seat's radio port
instead) but have had been asked to get out of the way while someone else
had one. It was a Jet Provost, flown by one of our local clubs, who called
to say he had a bit of smoke in the cockpit, which he assumed (correctly, it
turned out) was probably from the odd spot of oil dripping onto something
hot. In the end the fleet of flashing lights that met him mid-runway weren't
needed, but the fact that an emergency was declared got him on the ground
sharpish and with all the equipment around him to deal with a more serious
problem.

Importantly, the blokes in the fire crew mentioned later that they didn't
mind a bit, as it's good practice and it makes the day more interesting.

D.