We Declared An Emergency Over The Ocean

After a week in paradise, we departed the British Virgin Islands expecting nothing more than another beautiful Caribbean flight to Turks & Caicos. But over the ocean off the coast of Puerto Rico… everything changed. What started as a normal flight turned into one of the more stressful moments I’ve experienced as pilot in command and ultimately led to us declaring an emergency and diverting into San Juan. Open water, unknown fuel, fast approaching thunderstorms and landing in a foreign country without customs permission all while managing typical flight duties added up to a stressful situation. This experience completely changed my perspective on emergency declarations and decision making in aviation. At the end of the day, remember that safety of flight always comes first. 0:00 Clearance & Taxi at Beef Island 5:37 Takeoff from Beef Island 6:40 Coastline Cruise Virgin Gorda 9:00 IFR Clearance to Turks & Caicos 14:05 Declaring An Emergency 18:10 Diverting to San Juan & Troubleshooting 23:10 Approach into San Juan 28:32 Landing in San Juan Connect on Instagram at / brendan.m.egan *Video for entertainment only and not designed to be an instructional or educational video. Some of the most frequently asked questions I get asked: -What kind of plane? It’s a 2024 Cirrus SR22T. It’s an Xi which is Cirrus’ custom design program, so we were able to design the paint, colors, interior and truly customize the plane to be our own! -Where are you based? Presently based at KPWK, Chicago Executive Airport, which is about 7 miles north of O’Hare in the north suburbs of Chicago. -What do you do for a living? I own multiple businesses; my main business is a digital marketing agency where we help other businesses grow through digital marketing. -Why do you fly? I got into flying primarily for business. I was sick of dealing with airlines, their schedules, terrible service and delays. I primarily travel for business however also travel for leisure to some pretty amazing places! -When did you start flying? I started flying back in 2016 in a Sundowner; however I quickly realized I very much disliked the plane and didn’t jive with my instructor. I got back into aviation in 2023 and earned my private pilot then with my instrument and commercial the year after. -What do you think is next in your aviation journey? Writing this as of 2026, I’m a little under 1,000 total hours nearly all of which are in a Cirrus. I think there is a good chance a Vision Jet, TBM or similar are in my future but for now I am loving my current plane!