“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw
From the time we were student pilots, there was (or should have been) a continuing emphasis placed on proper radio communications. The FAA publishes the FAR/AIM and the Pilot/Controller Glossary to educate and assist pilots with the correct phraseology for in-air and on-the-ground radio transmissions. Advisory Circular AC 90-66C, Non-Towered Airport Flight Operations, is also available to make pilots better and more effective communicators.
Professional pilots, those with all the ratings who are paid to fly every day, do very well. Because of training, hours, basing at large, commercial airports, and familiarity with being “in the system,” they have learned correct phraseology, along with acquiring the rare talent of clear, concise, and accurate requests for, and acknowledgments of, relevant or required information. For many of us in the GA world, not so much.
There are multiple reasons why GA pilots often lack the level of communication skills that professional pilots possess. Depending on circumstances, primary training may have resulted in less attention to radio work so that more emphasis could be placed on other, presumably more vital, flying skills. There may have been an assumption that, as a student, you would naturally (through “osmosis”?) acquire the communication basics that you need. And, of course, most GA pilots fly fewer hours and have fewer opportunities to hone their radio skills than professionals do. Unless you were lucky enough to have had a primary instructor who was knowledgeable and experienced, you may have been taught communication skills by a CFI with low time who simply “didn’t know what (s)he didn’t know.” Some GA pilots may have just picked up words and phrases that they heard fellow pilots use over time and adopted them as their own.
There is an “art” to proper radio communication. Many of us in the GA world are still drawing stick figures. I am not a professional pilot. My communication skills, like most GA pilots, are adequate (I think), but I am certain they could be better. Commitment and practice can make all of us sound more professional when we press the push-to-talk-switch.
Space does not permit me to provide all the information that is available in the FAR/AIM, Pilot/Controller Glossary, and in Advisory Circular AC 90-66C. Moreover, I am not confident even an entire book can adequately cover the subject matter, although many capable authors have tried over the years. See, e.g., Paul E. Illman, The Pilot’s Radio Communication Handbook, Tab Practical Flying Series.
This article will discuss several common communication errors that GA pilots consistently make. I admit, I have made many of these errors. See if you can recognize yourself or other pilots in the examples below.
Remember, the quality of your radio communications is not just a question of skill level and endeavoring to fly like a professional. Your safety, and the safety of your fellow pilots, can be seriously compromised by improper, incomplete, or inaccurate radio communications.
We can all do better.
Here is a list of radio miscommunications. Note: The FAA advises that all self-announcements at non-towered airports begin and end with the airport name. For brevity, I have omitted the airport name at the end of each example. Also, most of these examples pertain to non-towered airports.
“Morey Field traffic, Warrior 3013 Zulu taking off Runway 28.” This transmission is incomplete. You are announcing to other traffic that you are taking off, but what is your direction of flight on departure? Much better to add to your radio call the direction of your flight, such as “Will be right turn out to the north” or “Will be straight out to the west.” In addition, if you are not departing the airport vicinity and you intend to remain in the pattern, it is always good to add that piece of information to your takeoff call. The more information, the better the communication, and the less other pilots will need to guess or assume your intentions on takeoff, thereby spending less time looking for you.
“Morey Field traffic, what is the active runway?” According to AC 90-66C, there is no such thing as an “active” runway at a non-towered airport. Only ATC at tower-controlled airports may designate “active” runways for takeoffs and landings. There is no designation authority by pilots for runways at non-towered airports. At non-towered airports, there are only runways “in use” by arriving and departing traffic. As a result, the pilot making the inquiry should ask, “What is the runway in use?”
Of course, it may not even be necessary to pose this question if the pilot has listened to the ASOS or AWOS (if available) and knows the winds and runway orientations or has listened to the landing and departing traffic and has gleaned from the radio calls which runway is, in fact, in use.
Same goes for the phrase, “Clear of the active,” after landing. Much better, and more correct to say, “Clear of Runway 28.”
“Morey Field traffic, Warrior 3013 Zulu is five miles out.” Aside from the potential issue of being inaccurate with the announced distance which, since the advent of GPS, should no longer be a problem, there is a glaring error in this transmission. Five miles out from where? From what direction? The purpose of making the radio call five miles from the airport is to provide notice to other traffic on the airport, in the pattern, and in the vicinity of the airport of your position and intentions.
When you make this initial call-up, do not make other pilots guess where you are and what your intentions are. Instead, tell them. “Morey Field traffic, Warrior 3013 Zulu is five miles south, inbound for landing. Will make left traffic for Runway 28.” That information allows other pilots to form a picture of where you are in relation to the airport and your likely route and pattern entry for the runway in use.
Also, it is always helpful to be precise with your direction from the airport. Prior to keying the microphone, glance at your directional gyro or other compass rose display and confirm your direction from the airport. If you are actually southeast, say “southeast” and not generally “south.”
“Morey Field traffic, red over white Cessna entering left downwind for Runway 28.” The use of a paint scheme or color in place of an N number is not standard, but it is being used by some pilots. In many instances, it makes no sense. The FAA advises that a paint scheme or color should not be used for identification. If the pilot using a paint scheme or color is hoping that it allows other pilots to more readily identify his or her particular aircraft, it mostly does not work. Cessna has produced in excess of 44,000 Skyhawks to date. How many of them do you think are painted (not counting a trim color) white? At a busy non-towered airport, how many white Cessnas may be in the pattern at the same time? Can you see the problem?
Better to use your aircraft’s model and N number in your radio calls and always be careful to describe accurately your position and intentions. If you fly a unique or unusual aircraft, such as a Sikorski S-38 flying boat, red and yellow over black, with silver wings (years ago at KRAC, I sometimes shared the pattern with one), or a bright yellow homebuilt biplane (I share the pattern with one at C29 today), by all means, go ahead and knock yourself out on a color description in your radio calls. It may be helpful in these few cases. For the vast majority of GA aircraft, painted white, use the model and N number.
“Morey Field traffic, Warrior 3013 Zulu is left downwind Runway 28. Number two for landing behind the Bonanza.” You may believe that announcing your position in the pattern behind another aircraft and including a definitive sequence for landing is helpful, but that is not necessarily so. AC 90-66C states that only ATC is able to establish that 3013 Zulu is number two for landing. It is ATC’s job to arrange for the orderly flow of landings and takeoffs at a towered airport – and not your job at a non-towered airport. Does that mean that you should not communicate with, and be aware of the positions of, other aircraft in the pattern? Of course not.
In the example, you could say, “Warrior 3013 Zulu is left downwind Runway 28. I have a Bonanza in sight on downwind in front of me.” If you try to establish your aircraft as the definitive “number two” for landing in your radio call, you could be mistaken. You may not actually be number two for landing. There may be another aircraft in the pattern between you and the Bonanza, or another aircraft still on downwind in front of the Bonanza about to turn base. There may be a no-radio (NORDO) aircraft in the pattern that you are unaware of.
I am in favor of more communication in the pattern rather than less. Clearly, talking with and arriving at agreements with those you are sharing the traffic pattern with to sort out potential conflicts is both reasonable and necessary. You may think announcing your “definitive” position in the pattern for landing is helpful, but if you are mistaken, much unhelpful confusion may ensue.
“Morey Field traffic, Warrior 3013 Zulu is five miles west, straight in for Runway 10.” It is not illegal per se to fly a straight in approach. It is also neither smart nor safe. But it is not illegal. Per AC 90-660C, the FAA “discourages” straight in approaches to land due to an increased risk of a midair collision. One aircraft flying the traffic pattern and one aircraft flying straight in creates an obvious traffic conflict. Absent an emergency, why would a pilot choose a straight in approach and intentionally create the potential for a midair? I suspect some readers of this article, such as corporate and freighter pilots flying faster turbine or jet aircraft, will have opinions.
The better course of action is to listen on the radio beginning eight to 10 miles out for traffic at the airport. If there is traffic in the pattern or traffic movement on the airport, resolve to abandon your straight in approach intentions and instead join the traffic flow in the pattern. A few additional minutes flying the pattern will make little difference to your schedule, your bladder, or to your passengers. An added benefit of joining the pattern instead of proceeding straight in is that you will no longer be required to estimate speeds and relative positions of other traffic in your head (“Am I faster than that Cirrus on downwind?” “Can I make it to the runway in front of that Cherokee just turning base?”), and avoid frantically guessing at who will arrive at the same point in space and time first.
“13 Zulu, Madison Approach. There is traffic at your two o’clock, two miles, same altitude, heading toward you.” “Madison Approach, 13 Zulu, looking for traffic.” Although this is a common response in this scenario, it is not a recommended response in the FAR/AIM. When advised by ATC of traffic, you have two possible replies, and only two, that are acceptable. One is, “Traffic in sight.” The other is, “Negative contact.”
“Looking for traffic” is not helpful to the controller. The controller needs to know if you have the traffic in sight or you do not. The possibility also exists for the controller only hearing the word “traffic” when you respond and may misunderstand that you actually have the traffic in sight when you do not. It is also not helpful to respond with, “We have the traffic on the fish finder.” “Seeing” another aircraft on your ADS-B traffic display is not an acceptable response to ATC’s traffic advisory.
Pilots may think it is better to respond to the traffic advisory immediately, even if they have not yet located the traffic. The better course of action is to delay a few moments, quickly look for the called traffic, and then properly respond. No style points are awarded or subtracted if you visually locate or fail to visually locate the called traffic. ATC simply requires a prompt, clear answer. Once you see the called traffic, you are responsible for avoiding it.
“Madison Approach, Warrior 3013 Zulu is 10 miles west.” For an initial call-up to an ATC tower facility, there is an expectation that the pilot will provide all relevant information and in a certain order. Simply saying “is 10 miles west,” does not provide sufficient information. Generally, providing all of the information at once saves repeated requests from ATC to “pull” the desired information out of you.
A proper initial call-up to Madison Approach is as follows: “Madison Approach, Warrior 3013 Zulu is 10 southwest, at 3,500, landing Madison with Uniform.” The format remains the same for every initial call-up. Start with the ATC facility, your aircraft model, and full call sign. Next, your position. Sometimes you may use VFR reporting points or landmarks, but with the common use of GPS, it should be easy to accurately report distance from the airport. Next, your altitude. Next, your intentions, such as “Landing Madison,” or “Direct Morey Field. Request flight following.” And, if landing at Madison, the current ATIS report.
By providing this information to the controller in one neat, continuous transmission, you will save the controller time, free up the frequency from an interminable give-and-take of information, and sound more professional. Use the memory aid PAIR: Position, Altitude, Intention/Information (e.g., landing and ATIS), Request.
“Morey Field traffic, any traffic in the area, please advise.” I have included this phrase on the list not because I think it is a bad idea, but because I think making this inquiry can be a good idea.
The FAR/AIM and AC 90-66C both suggest that this phrase is not a “recognized” phrase and should not be used. My experience is that some pilots use it and some do not. Some pilots see little value in its use, as they assert that if all traffic approaching, in the pattern, and landing or taking off make the appropriate reporting announcements, the request is superfluous. But can you guarantee that every pilot is making the correct calls and you have heard them all?
Even if all traffic is making the appropriate announcements, you may have missed another aircraft’s call, or the call may have been “stepped on” by a simultaneous transmission, or an aircraft on an IFR flight plan may have not been released from ATC to go to the local CTAF frequency and not yet made a call.
I believe that, particularly when entering and flying the traffic pattern, it benefits everyone to solicit more communication, not less. At most non-towered airports, the pattern is not so congested as to prevent necessary dialog to determine who you are sharing the pattern with, and to resolve on the radio any potential conflicts.
There has been a tendency to teach student pilots that a radio frequency is a valuable commodity, and to make judicious use of it, less it become monopolized or prevent other pilots from communicating. I cannot argue with that. However, at a non-towered airport, the FAA should be encouraging pilots to over-communicate as necessary when entering and flying the pattern. I would rather have more talk, and pilots working out potential conflicts, such as “I have you in sight. I will extend my downwind until you pass my wing on your final,” than less talk which may directly result in confusion in the pattern and the potential for disaster. “Any traffic in the area, please advise,” can be a part of better, more pro-active, and more safety-focused communications in the vicinity of a non-towered airport and in the pattern. I will not question a pilot’s use of this phrase.
“Morey Field traffic, Warrior 3013 Zulu, departing the traffic pattern to the northwest. This is my final call.” If you have ever been in a bar late at night, you know that the “final call” happens at closing time. One more opportunity to order a drink. There is nothing in the FAR/AIM, the Pilot/Controller Glossary, or AC 90-66C regarding this announcement. I am unaware of its origin in aviation. Unless you are pouring drinks from your cockpit, planning to retire, or intending to crash, I suggest you not use, “This is my final call.” I do not see any benefit. If, as you are departing the pattern, you need to make an announcement regarding your intentions or to avoid a conflict, please do so, but this phrase is without meaning or purpose.
Flying should be fun. Make good decisions. Communicate.
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this column is the expressed opinion of the author only, and readers are advised to seek the advice of their personal flight instructor and others, and refer to the Federal Aviation Regulations, FAA Aeronautical Information Manual, and instructional materials before attempting any procedures discussed herein.
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