Narrative:

A C172 was in VFR conditions approximately 5-6 NM northwest of the airport when the field went IFR. I advised him the field was IFR and asked his intentions. He stated he wanted to come in for landing. I told him the field visibility was 2 miles and ceiling 700 ft broken and again asked his intentions. He said he wanted to land and he had a GPS he could use. I told him I couldn't authorize him to come in VFR. He also asked if I had him on radar. I told him I did and his position. I told him to maintain VFR and remain clear of class C airspace. He said he couldn't maintain VFR. I told him special VFR was available but he did not know what that was. Given that information; in my best judgment I decided to declare an emergency for him. I issued a heading of 180 with the intent to bring him towards the airport. I did not want to issue any instructions that would cause him to become spatially disoriented. Once he was about a mile offshore I told him of his position and asked if he had the shoreline in sight and he did. I told him to follow the shoreline to either runway 20 or 23. I told him we turned on the runway lights to maximum intensity and asked if he could see either runway. Once he had the runways in sight; I cleared him to land on either runway 20 or 23. He landed safely without incident. I recognize I should not have solicited special VFR and should have issued a suggested heading instead of an assigned heading. Although the flm advised me to issue the MOCA I did not because I did not want the pilot to think he had to climb and potentially become disoriented. I used my best judgment to help the pilot get to the airport as safely as I could. Brushing up on the 7110.65 prior to taking position on a day when the weather is questionable.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller described an ATC declared emergency event when a VFR aircraft encountered IMC conditions; was unfamiliar with SVFR procedures and required controller assistance to locate the airport.

Narrative: A C172 was in VFR conditions approximately 5-6 NM northwest of the airport when the field went IFR. I advised him the field was IFR and asked his intentions. He stated he wanted to come in for landing. I told him the field visibility was 2 miles and ceiling 700 FT broken and again asked his intentions. He said he wanted to land and he had a GPS he could use. I told him I couldn't authorize him to come in VFR. He also asked if I had him on RADAR. I told him I did and his position. I told him to maintain VFR and remain clear of Class C airspace. He said he couldn't maintain VFR. I told him Special VFR was available but he did not know what that was. Given that information; in my best judgment I decided to declare an emergency for him. I issued a heading of 180 with the intent to bring him towards the airport. I did not want to issue any instructions that would cause him to become spatially disoriented. Once he was about a mile offshore I told him of his position and asked if he had the shoreline in sight and he did. I told him to follow the shoreline to either Runway 20 or 23. I told him we turned on the runway lights to maximum intensity and asked if he could see either runway. Once he had the runways in sight; I cleared him to land on either Runway 20 or 23. He landed safely without incident. I recognize I should not have solicited Special VFR and should have issued a suggested heading instead of an assigned heading. Although the FLM advised me to issue the MOCA I did not because I did not want the pilot to think he had to climb and potentially become disoriented. I used my best judgment to help the pilot get to the airport as safely as I could. Brushing up on the 7110.65 prior to taking position on a day when the weather is questionable.

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.