---
title: Do you wish to Declare an Emergency? Our flight to Le Touquet has issues - Whiskey Alpha Pilot
description: Our second attempt to fly KK to Le Touquet. Things didn't go to plan. ATC asked if we wanted to declare an emergency. We didn't. But it was close.
canonical_url: https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/touch-and-go-logbook/do-you-wish-to-declare-an-emergency-our-flight-to-le-touquet-has-issues
language: en-GB
date: 2026-06-06T19:35:22Z
notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/touch-and-go-logbook/do-you-wish-to-declare-an-emergency-our-flight-to-le-touquet-has-issues. Schema.org structured data included at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
markdown-tokens: 1022
---

> **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/touch-and-go-logbook/do-you-wish-to-declare-an-emergency-our-flight-to-le-touquet-has-issues. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content.
> **Structured data** as JSON-LD may be found at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
> **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above.


This was our second attempt to fly KK to Le Touquet. The first didn't go well either. You'd think that would have been a sign.

Le Touquet in France is one of those trips that every GA pilot in the UK has either done or wants to do. Cross the channel - it is wider than it looks, land in France, have lunch, fly home. Simple. In theory. In practice, flying a 1977 Cessna across the Channel has a way of finding things to go wrong. You have to get the simple stuff right. paper work. and more paperwork.

If you watch the video you will find that things didn't go entirely to plan. At one point ATC asked us the immortal question that nobody particularly wants to be asked. Do you wish to declare an emergency? We didn't. It wasn't that kind of situation. But being asked that question in a real aircraft about to fly over over real water has a way of focusing the mind rather sharply.

The training kicked in, we worked through it, and we got down safely. It sounds more dramatic that it actually was.

Le Touquet is still on the list. We'll try again. Probably.

<!-- AI:SCHEMA: Schema.org description of canonical page in JSON-LD format -->
<!-- AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN format=jsonld scope=page -->

```json
{
    "@context": "http://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Article",
            "author": {
                "@id": "https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/#wayne_allen_52a5b5b413"
            },
            "dateModified": "2026-06-06T19:35:22Z",
            "datePublished": "2026-04-25T10:18:32Z",
            "description": "Our second attempt to fly KK to Le Touquet. Things didn't go to plan. ATC asked if we wanted to declare an emergency. We didn't. But it was close.",
            "headline": "Do you wish to Declare an Emergency? Our flight to Le Touquet has issues",
            "image": [
                {
                    "@type": "ImageObject",
                    "url": "https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/images/videos/declare-emergency/declare an emergency.png",
                    "caption": null,
                    "description": "Jack and Wayne flying a cessna 172 - do you wish to declare an emergency?",
                    "width": 1280,
                    "height": 720
                }
            ],
            "inLanguage": "en-GB",
            "mainEntityOfPage": {
                "@type": "WebPage",
                "url": "https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/touch-and-go-logbook/do-you-wish-to-declare-an-emergency-our-flight-to-le-touquet-has-issues"
            },
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/#defaultPublisher"
            },
            "url": "https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/touch-and-go-logbook/do-you-wish-to-declare-an-emergency-our-flight-to-le-touquet-has-issues"
        },
        {
            "@type": "Person",
            "name": "Wayne Allen",
            "@id": "https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/#wayne_allen_52a5b5b413"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/#defaultPublisher",
            "@type": "Organization",
            "url": "https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/",
            "logo": {
                "@id": "https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/#defaultLogo"
            },
            "name": "Whiskey Alpha Pilot"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/#defaultLogo",
            "@type": "ImageObject",
            "url": "https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/images/icons/favicon.png",
            "width": 512,
            "height": 512
        }
    ]
}
```

<!-- AI:SCHEMA:END -->