Yes, Virginia, Scandinavia is part of Europe, and two of the countries featured here — Denmark and Sweden — are members of the European Union. What that means, if you're headed to either of those countries, is that your flight will come under the EU's notorious Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and taxed from point of origin to destination (i.e., not entry into EU airspace).

The “bible” for operations over the high seas is ICAO Document 4444, Section 15, which delineates general oceanic contingency procedures. An accompanying reference is ICAO Document 7030, which covers supplementary (unique) procedures applying to the eight ICAO regions. These two can be purchased through ICAO's main website in paper or online subscriptions at www.icao.int/publications/catalog. (They are not presented gratis on the ICAO website as FARs are on the FAA website and must be purchased. However, the full set is included in a Jeppesen JeppView subscription.)

What follows is a compilation of actual inflight emergencies experienced by business aviation flight crews in oceanic airspace. Note the follow-throughs, cockpit resource management, and adherence to ICAO contingency procedures these tales reflect.