Standard Alignment

FAA-S-8081-9E (PTS) — Flight Instructor Instrument, Helicopter · Area of Operation IX. Emergency Operations · Task: Partial Panel, Lost Communications & Inadvertent IMC

PTS Area IX — Emergency Operations Partial-panel approach (loss of primary instruments) Lost communications (14 CFR 91.185) Inadvertent IMC / unusual-attitude recovery

⚑ FLAG (Walter): PTS references, not ACS codes — confirm against FAA-S-8081-9E.

Teaching IFR Emergencies

Coach a partial-panel approach, the lost-comms procedure, and the inadvertent-IMC plan — calmly, by the instruments.

By the end of this lesson you can:

Teach diagnosing an instrument failure and flying a partial-panel approach.
Teach the lost-communications procedure (squawk 7600; AVEF route; highest of assigned/expected/MEA).
Teach the inadvertent-IMC plan for a VFR helicopter and pilot.
Brief the common errors (misdiagnosis, task saturation, scud-running).

1 · Partial panel

Teach diagnosing the failure by cross-check (the lone disagreeing instrument is the suspect), building a scan from the survivors/standby/reversionary display, choosing the simplest achievable approach, declaring for priority, and configuring early. Manage workload and keep flying the aircraft.

2 · Lost communications

Teach 14 CFR 91.185: squawk 7600; if VFR conditions, continue VFR and land as soon as practicable; in IMC fly the AVEF route (Assigned, Vectored, Expected, Filed) and the highest of Assigned/Expected/MEA altitude by segment, beginning the approach at the EFC time or near the ETA. Stay predictable.

3 · Inadvertent IMC

Teach the plan for a VFR helicopter that enters IMC: maintain control on the instruments, climb for terrain, turn toward known VMC, and get ATC help — never scud-run. Recover unusual attitudes smoothly (no abrupt cyclic in a Robinson). Prevention through conservative weather decisions is primary.

4 · Watch

Curated reference clip — “The 5 C's of Going Missed | IFR Missed Approach,” FlightInsight (YouTube), verified via oEmbed. Embedded with the creator's player; we don't host or alter it.

5 · Reference sources

Use the authoritative references

📄 Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B) — Emergencies 📄 14 CFR 91.185; AIM 6-4 (lost comms)

Your aircraft: the partial-panel reversion and standby instruments are aircraft-specific — teach the IFR trainer’s installed equipment and failure modes.

✍️ Fill in for the aircraft you fly the trainer’s partial-panel/standby instruments and the lost-comms & inadvertent-IMC plans you teach — verify against 91.185 and confirm with your CFII.

⚑ FLAG (Walter): the R44 is VFR-certificated; confirm the IFR trainer/sim and avionics the student actually uses, and that all instrument procedures and the required inspections match that installation.

Risk management (the “Consider”): the IFR-emergency killers are misdiagnosing a failure, task saturation, and scud-running after inadvertent IMC. Teach cross-check diagnosis, the simplest achievable partial-panel approach with a declaration, the predictable 91.185 lost-comms procedure, and a control-first inadvertent-IMC plan — with prevention through conservative weather decisions.