However, here too there appears to be latitude. Some of the entries we reviewed didn't show up in the FSDO records, suggesting the FSDO wasn't notified or didn't deem the entry worth officially recording. FSDO's often have an inspector on call 24 hours a day. Emergencies they learn about from the operations center are always followed up with some kind of investigation, sometimes immediately, sometimes within a few days but, by law, within six months. The incident report will be kept on file by the FSDO and eventually sent to Oklahoma City, where it will become part of the the pilot's permanent record.
Emergencies involving air carriers or air taxi operations get more scrutiny.
In fact, air traffic managers are specifically directed to notify their bosses and FAA headquarters if an emergency involves an air carrier, a commuter or an air taxi. And like any bureaucracy worth its organizational chart, the FAA protects its backside against bad publicity. Managers are supposed to notify headquarters if the aircraft is carrying a member of congress or if the emergency is likely to attract news media attention. Oddly enough, the air traffic logs and FSDO records don't always make a distinction as to whether an incident was an emergency or not. Taken together, all these regs and procedures mean that the actual declaration of an emergency or the provision of priority service really doesn't have much bearing on whether an incident will be investigated.