TRACON controller described an MVA infraction when an IFR aircraft on an assigned heading/altitude e...

Narrative:

I was giving ojti. A BE60 departed the airport heading 300 climbing to 2;500. My trainee handed the aircraft off to radar west then informed the BE60 radar contact and issued 124.0 for radar west about 3 miles northwest of the airport. The BE60 acknowledged. There was a 3;300 MVA 10 miles northwest of the airport. The BE60 never switched over. Radar west controller and I try to climb the BE60 multiple times once we realized we lost communications. The BE60 flew straight through the 3;300 MVA at 2;500. The BE60 eventually squawked emergency about 10 mile northwest of the airport and began maneuvering and climbing in a large left turn to on course east bound. Then closer to the next airport the aircraft squawked VFR. Eventually; the radar west controller was able to contact the BE60 and found out that the aircraft experienced some kind of electrical problem which caused the radios to fail. The pilot chose to continue of the original flight plan and went on their way. The departure heading off the airport in a 1L/1R flow should be a heading which will keep departures south of the 3;300 MVA. I don't think 300 is a good heading even when there aren't any equipment failures.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TRACON Controller described an MVA infraction when an IFR aircraft on an assigned heading/altitude experienced electrical problems and failed to respond to ATC instructions; the reporter suggesting changes to initial heading assignments.

Narrative: I was giving OJTI. A BE60 departed the airport heading 300 climbing to 2;500. My trainee handed the aircraft off to Radar West then informed the BE60 RADAR contact and issued 124.0 for Radar West about 3 miles northwest of the airport. The BE60 acknowledged. There was a 3;300 MVA 10 miles northwest of the airport. The BE60 never switched over. Radar West Controller and I try to climb the BE60 multiple times once we realized we lost communications. The BE60 flew straight through the 3;300 MVA at 2;500. The BE60 eventually squawked emergency about 10 mile northwest of the airport and began maneuvering and climbing in a large left turn to on course east bound. Then closer to the next airport the aircraft squawked VFR. Eventually; the Radar West Controller was able to contact the BE60 and found out that the aircraft experienced some kind of electrical problem which caused the radios to fail. The pilot chose to continue of the original flight plan and went on their way. The departure heading off the airport in a 1L/1R flow should be a heading which will keep departures south of the 3;300 MVA. I don't think 300 is a good heading even when there aren't any equipment failures.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	989609
Time
Date	201201
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Duke 60
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Departure Instructor Approach
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

TRACON controller described an MVA infraction when an IFR aircraft on an assigned heading/altitude experienced electrical problems and failed to respond to ATC instructions; the reporter suggesting changes to initial heading assignments.