Pilot deviation
 

Asked to call xxxx center for possible pilot deviation.hand off from 1 freq to the next didnt go well .recollecting my thoughts i believe what happened was i inadvertently deselect the audio and was distracted around the time of the freq changE which apparently i did acknowledge. When i realized what happened i scrambled to get the comms back,i moved my hand towards the control head on the vhf and thought "volume" i turned the knob and i actually changed the freq not volume now i had lost the freq and the previous one was 2 far away.fortunately the freq i dialed in was an active freq and i was able to regain comms ( 17 minutes off comms according to the supervisor,we called from the aircraft) we both filed a NASA
He said he had to send the report to the next level.
Is 17 minutes an awful long time? This is not the same as 1 hour.

17 mins is a Loooooooooong time for ATC, not for us unless you need something.
ATC/FAA have been really finicky about "pilot deviations" lately. I had an alt deviation (220ft) about a year ago.
Tulsa dept made a huge hullabaloo about and wanted to go all the way up. By the end of it all I spent time on the phone with our POI and a Letter of Warning from it.

I personally wouldn't sweat it.

Are you saying its not long time enough for them to consider it serious ?

Serious is in the eyes of the man at the scope or supv desk.
5 mins in SLC center vs 5 mins in NYC center are two entirely different things.
What center were y'all talking too. I once flew from the first FTW Center freq south of DFW 133.3 all the way south of SAT cause we flew out of the coverage and weren't handed off.
We caught on when I could hear other planes but not center.
We found the freq from the charts and all was fine.

Time to get smart on "Pilot's Bill of Rights".. You are entitled to a copy of all the ATC data if you request it. Go to FAA.GOV for info.
I guess the big question will be, what did ATC clear you for when you were "absent"? This is why most air carriers listen on 121.5 on COM 2 just in case there is a unknown problem with Com 1.

We as a corporate dept also monitor 121.5 on COM 2 but I will say all the annoying chatter gets pretty obnoxious at times. We've bee known to turn it off at times.

Remember, the high charts have freqs posted on there for different sectors. If you don't want to go ask on 121.5, you can always look on the chart.

Easier and quicker to go on 121.5 and ask.

I tried the freq i was on ,i would have gone to 121.5 in the event i couldn't pick anybody up. There were no separation issues that i know of ,so essentially my question was ..is 15 min a very long time ? Would it be treated the same as an hour lets say?

The answer to your Q depends on what you may have "missed" when you were not on freq. ATC could have issued you a Vector, Altitude Change, Etc.. If you did not "comply" with the ATC instructions, based on something you missed hearing, then that could be contrary to 91 regs. Did you squawk 7600? If you did, this could help in your favor.

So you really need to obtain a copy of ALL ATC data. Remember that this data (recordings) is only kept for a finite period of time. So recommend you request the data ASAP.

As has been mentioned, you're on the wrong track thinking that some amount of time is the same, as or different, from any other amount of time. It is all situationally dependent. No comms for 30 mins in some parts of the US = not a big deal (probably very little happening). Can you imagine being even 10 mins without comms in SoCal or the DC area? YIKES! :eek:

Another way to look at it.
You are ready to come down for your planned descent into ABC airport from the FLs in your GV. If you asked for that planned descent and no one answered you for 15 mins while you drilled along at you current airspeed and altitude - would that be no big deal? ;)

I'd say it would be a big statement to say that there were definitely no traffic conflicts/separation issues (but did say "that I know of...").
Even with all of the gee-whiz gadgetry on-board now we don't always know the big ATC plan you know.

Ten seconds off frequency is a long time if you miss "Go Around".

If you are going to prepare for the worst and do more than just toss a NASA report, the Richie Lengel book has a nice section on handling this sort of problem. There is a limited time window on things like ordering the ATC tapes, so get the book or one like it, and do what it says immediately. Be that as it may, it sounds like an honest gaff and as long as no major fuss was caused I doubt you'll hear anything/ much more. I get queries from ATC every day "would you go on such-and-such frequency and see if N1234 is there?" They have issues with lost comms in geographically large zones. You'll sleep better if you get ready for a call from the FAA though. Many such instances are followed for purely bureaucratic reasons.

FAA seems obsessed with making ATC treat all things not perfect as some deviation these days they need the numbers for funding and when comes down to you or ATC, ATC will put the blame on pilot.
Follow advice here file NASA report read up on the law and write out what you will say if they call you will sound prepared which may help.

Pilot deviation
 

As we know at the FAA its either black or white...so i found this interesting document. Its an extract from an email referring to NORDO aircraft.
" Since the Northwest overflight of MSP a couple of years ago,the FAA is hot and heavy on NORDO's I.E lost comms.
They make us hunt down aircraft like crazy.Since Jan 2012, the FAA has implemented a new quality control system and before a NORDO was handled by each facilty,now we just report the aircraft NORDO and a report is filed as to how long the were out of comms.Those reports go straight to the Regional Quality Assurance office and they determine wether or not to file a pilot deviation.The new standard is 20 minutes.If it is longer than 20 minutes,the Regional QA. Sends the pilot deviation report to FSDO.Not much we can do about it anymore,just make sure talking to ATC every 20 minutes"