The ICAO phonetic alphabet has assigned the 26 code words to the 26 letters of the English alphabet in alphabetical order: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.
Alpha, Bravo, Charli, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, PaPa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu. Pilots pronounce numbers similar to regular English, with a few exceptions: The number three (3) is pronounced “tree.”
In the beginning of the alphabet, the words used for each letter have changed quite a few times. However, the NATO phonetic alphabet helped to stop the differences in languages, accents and pronunciations, making it easier for aviation crews.
V1 is the maximum speed at which a rejected takeoff can be initiated in the event of an emergency. V1 is also the minimum speed at which a pilot can continue takeoff following an engine failure.
Pilots use the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Phonetic Alphabet to communicate. Pilots never pronounce letters when they are transmitting to Air Traffic Control, and vice-versa. Instead, each letter of the alphabet is assigned a code word to represent the letter.
As you may already know, the Standard Phonetic Alphabet used in Australia is actually the NATO Phonetic Alphabet – the same as that used in the UK.
Aviators often speak “pilot English” to avoid miscommunications over radio transmission. “Tree” for instance, means three, “fife” is the number five and “niner” means nine, says Tom Zecha, a manager at AOPA. The variations stemmed from a desire to avoid confusion between similar-sounding numbers, he says.
The phrase "five by five" can be used informally to mean "good signal strength" or "loud and clear". An early example of this phrase was in 1946, recounting a wartime conversation. The phrase was used in 1954 in the novel The Blackboard Jungle.
This beautiful black proof coin is called Blue Skies. Named after the wish “Blue Skies and Tailwinds” that all pilots give each other blessing them with safe travels as they navigate where the birds fly.
During the takeoff roll, the pilot monitoring the displays (PM) will call out the two important speeds: V1 and rotate. This indicates to the pilot flying the aircraft (PF) when they are beyond the safe stopping speed and when to rotate the aircraft into the air.
Charlie-Charlie is a fancy substitution for a standard affirmative. It comes from the convention of abbreviating Correct/Yes by letter C in codes. It was early standardized and used at sea since 1857.
Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta – these terms are used to designate the sides of a structure. Generally speaking, the “alpha” side is the front of the structure, the “bravo” side is the left side of the structure, “charlie” is the back of the structure and “delta” is the right side of the structure.
"Fox" is short for "foxtrot", the NATO phonetic designation for the letter "F", which is short for "fire". The radio call announcing that a weapon has been fired is intended to help avoid friendly fire, alerting other pilots to avoid maneuvering into the path of the munition.
Aircraft pilots are taught to follow a list of critical steps if they become lost while in flight: Confess, Climb, Conserve, Communicate, and Comply. Often referred to as the “Lost 5 C's,” some variations add a sixth tag word like “Circle” (in order to take better stock of one's exact location).
Hickox: The three C's pertain to cockpit, cabin, and crew, aligned with the three main domains on board the aircraft.
What do pilots say right before takeoff? These can vary, but in general, the announcements are relatively standard across different airlines. Most pilots will typically introduce themselves and the cabin crew; state the aircraft type, flight number, and route, and remind passengers of the airline's seatbelt policy.
Pilots and flight crews use several colors of flight suit. NASA crews, for example, wear blue flight suits as a sort of functional dress uniform during training. The orange suits that they wear during launch and re-entry/landing are designed for high visibility, should there be an emergency recovery.
Welcome – Long flight
Welcome on board (flight reference). This is Captain / Co-pilot (your name) speaking and I have some information about our flight. Our flight time today will be (flight duration) and our estimated time of arrival in (destination) is (ETA)local time.
Just say “have a nice flight” will do, or you can get poetic and say “blue skies and tail-winds for you!”
Three Stripes indicate that the person is the co-pilot or second in command. They assist the captain through flight planning and updating communication and flight mechanisms. Four Stripes insignia is worn by the captain; the one ultimately in charge of the safety and operations of the flight.
10-4 is a way of saying “message received” in radio communications. It's also used as a way to “you got it.”
Wake turbulence poses a major risk to other aircraft, so pilots and ATC use the term “heavy” in radio transmissions as a reminder that the aircraft's wake may be dangerous to others passing behind or below the flightpath of these larger-mass aircraft.
The radiotelephony message PAN-PAN is the international standard urgency signal that someone aboard a boat, ship, aircraft, or other vehicle uses to declare that they need help and that the situation is urgent, but for the time being, does not pose an immediate danger to anyone's life or to the vessel itself.
Affirm: Contrary to popular belief, pilots do not say “affirmative” when they mean yes – the correct term is affirm, pronounced “AY-firm.”
Playmates - The pilots of other aircraft on the same mission as you.