Protocol if real-life causes communication break?

[arsindelve]

Two nights ago, I twice tried to land at John Wayne. Both times, shortly after initiating contact with Socal approach, Xplane crashed and dumped me back at the desktop. (This is, I suspect, because I am running the 32-bit version of Xplane on OSX and ran out of memory, so I anxiously await the availability of the 64-bit plugin on the 17th.)

I don't want to seem rude or inconsiderate in any way to the controllers, and I'm sure it's a little frustrating to have them start working with an aircraft only to have it disappear with no explanation. Is there anything I can or should do in this case to contact the controllers (maybe offline?) to let them know "hey, I was not being rude or stupid, I just had a computer software malfunction"? (Sorry to whomever was working two nights ago, around 11:00 EST!)

Similarly, is there a protocol one should use if they're in the middle of working with ATC on Pilot Edge and some real-life urgency arises and we need to go suddenly?

Thanks,

[Peter Grey]

Hello,

To answer your questions.

I don't want to seem rude or inconsiderate in any way to the controllers, and I'm sure it's a little frustrating to have them start working with an aircraft only to have it disappear with no explanation. Is there anything I can or should do in this case to contact the controllers (maybe offline?) to let them know "hey, I was not being rude or stupid, I just had a computer software malfunction"? (Sorry to whomever was working two nights ago, around 11:00 EST!)

We are used to sudden disconnections (I see several a day), we know they happen, and we know it's not you being rude or anything like that. So in simple terms don't worry about it. There is no need to apologize for it.

We do ask if you disconnect and reconnect more then a few seconds later you give us a call when you get back (otherwise we will quickly forget about you and may not notice you're back).

Similarly, is there a protocol one should use if they're in the middle of working with ATC on Pilot Edge and some real-life urgency arises and we need to go suddenly?

Just a quick "Center/Approach/Tower something has come up and I'll have to disconnect at this time" works just fine.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[arsindelve]

Thanks Peter!

[dave_paige]

I know I've asked for a couple of minutes "off the flight deck" on occasion. It's always been graciously granted, just "report when back". Is that ok or would you prefer we disconnect and then reconnect when back.

Dave

[Peter Grey]

I know I've asked for a couple of minutes "off the flight deck" on occasion. It's always been graciously granted, just "report when back". Is that ok or would you prefer we disconnect and then reconnect when back.

Stay connected, that way we know where you are. If you disconnect and reconnect we won't know exactly where you are reappearing.