How's this for a Tower/Pilot exchange in an Emergency?

Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:
David Dyer-Bennet wrote:

An immediate clear request would have helped.

Well, it was clear to the transcriber; has anybody heard the actual
tape? Apparently it wasn't clear to the controller.



The transcriber has the advantage of being able to play the tape over and over
again until he/she gets it.



I got to hear the recording on the local news as the pilot was from this
area. He sounded urgent but not panicked. Being a low-time private
pilot when I heard "we've lost AN engine" would've led me to believe it
was a multi. BTW, led my wife in her limited GA knowledge to think the
same. I never heard him declare an emergency, never heard mayday, never
heard even pan pan pan. He requested vectors back and got them. Once
he said "we're going in the drink" the controller told him they were
sending someone out (it was apparent to me they knew where he was).
When the crash occurred, the story here was that the local Sheriff's
Dept and Coast Guard responded but halted after a day because of bad
weather.

Chris