ATC Terminology
QUIZ
Do you know the correct answer?
1. The first civil mid-air collision occured over France in:




1919
1922
1927
1931
2. The international spelling alphabet used by pilots and air traffic controllers was
first introduced by the International Civil Aviation Organization in:




1927
1947
1951
1959
3. Letter C was originally assigned to the word:




Coffin
Cuckoo
Coca
Coala
4. The Special Weapons and Tactics units (SWAT - U.S. paramilitary police) use
Tango for:




target
terrorist
troop
abnormally small underwear
5. The first U.S. "control tower" was a wheelbarrow, in which the air traffic
controller carried:




a beach chair, his lunch, water, a note pad and a pair of signal flags
sunglasses, binoculars, a note pad and a pair of signal flags
a map, his lunch, water, a note pad and a set of 4 signal flags
a beach chair, sunglasses, a swimming suit, flippers and a pair of signal
flags
 Now turn the page and find the information in the text...
page 85
XI.
ATC TERMINOLOGY
ATC: WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?
The first mid air collision
In 1922, two airlines collided between Paris and London - two aircraft met head-on whilst
following one of the airways. This first mid air collision forced authorities to devise the air lane
system in which airlines are allotted strict routes, times and schedules to avoid such
tragedies.
The first international spelling alphabet
The Phonetic Alphabet is used to spell out letters in place of just saying the letter itself. By
using a word for each letter there is less chance that the person listening will confuse letters.
The first internationally recognized spelling alphabet was adopted by the International
Telecommunication Union in 1927. The origins of the phonetic alphabet, as we know it today,
were laid in 1951, when the International Civil Aviation Organization implemented the
international phonetic alphabet. The final version was adopted in 1956, when 5 letters were
replaced in order to avoid confusion between words: C (originally assigned to Coca), M
(Metro), N (Nectar), U (Union) and X (Extra).
Several letter codes and abbreviations using the phonetic alphabet have become wellknown, such as Bravo Zulu (letter code BZ) for "well done", and Zulu for Greenwich Mean
Time or Coordinated Universal Time. In SWAT units (U.S. paramilitary police), the letter code
Tango is used for terrorists, Sierra for a Sniper etc.
The first air traffic controller
The name of the man generally acknowledged as the first U.S. air traffic controller was
Archie William League. After becoming a licensed airplane mechanic, flying and
barnstorming around Illinois and Missouri with his own "flying circus", Archie was hired to
direct the growing air traffic at St. Louis's Lambert Field. His "control tower" was a
wheelbarrow on which he mounted a beach umbrella for the summer heat. In it he carried a
beach chair, his lunch, water, a note pad and a pair of signal flags to direct the aircraft either
to "GO" or "HOLD." In the winters, he wore a padded flying suit to keep warm out on the field.
This was the beginning of what we know today as air traffic control.
page 85
ATC Terminology
1. Look at the table below and read the pronunciation of numbers.
Number
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
100
1000
. DECIMAL/POINT
1034
258.9
Pronunciation
[zi:ru]
[ wn]
[tu:]
[tri:]
[fou]
[faif]
[six]
[sefn]
[eit]
[nain]
[handrid]
[tausnd]
[desiml] or [point]
[wn zi:ru tri: fou]
[tu: faif eit desiml nain]
2. Practise numbers by saying the phrases.
Phrase
runway 15
heading 345
121.55
heading 180
flight level 450
6500 feet
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Phrase
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
298.3
392.5
runway 27
flight level 230
runway 07
124.25
3. Say: the callsign of the aircraft
the flight level it is leaving or maintaining
the flight level it is climbing or descending
 its heading
Example:
SNAKE 26, leaving flight level 390, descending to flight level 250, heading 270.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Callsign
SNAKE 26
BLUE 13
FROGG 3
WHISTLE 19
THUNDER 705
DOGGIE 1
SCARLET 7
MARINE 208
LEOPARD RED
MISSION 52
Flight levels
390  250
110  310
150  50
200
45  240
450  330
390
350  260
50  120
70  100
page 86
Heading
270
015
005
030
110
250
310
220
340
240
ATC Terminology
4. Look at the table wit the letters of alphabet and learn them.
Letter
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Word
ALFA
BRAVO
CHARLIE
DELTA
ECHO
FOXTROT
GOLF
HOTEL
INDIA
JULIET
KILO
LIMA
MIKE
NOVEMBER
OSCAR
PAPA
QUEBEC
ROMEO
SIERRA
TANGO
UNIFORM
VICTOR
WHISKEY
X-RAY
YANKEE
ZULU
5.  XI.I.
6. XI.II.
7. Match the words with their definitions.
COMMON WORDS USED IN RADIO MESSAGES
1. GO AHEAD
A Yes
2. STAND BY
B Check a system or procedure
3. WORDS TWICE
C Let me know that you have received and understood this
message
D I give permission to do something
4. CORRECTION
page 87
ATC Terminology
5. AFFIRM
E Give your message
6. ROGER
7. CHECK
F A change has been made to your last clearance and this
is the new clearance
G Wait and I will call you
8. MONITOR
H I understand your message and will do as you say
9. CLEARED
10. SAY AGAIN
I Because communication is difficult, I will say every word
or group of words twice
J I give permission for you to do what you ask
11. NEGATIVE
K Pass me the following information
12. WILCO
L Pay no attention to that transmission
13. REPORT
15. CONFIRM
M There was a mistake in this transmission/message. The
correct version is...
N Have I correctly received the message? or Did you
correctly receive this message?
O Listen for informaton on....(frequency)
16. CONTACT
P I wish to know.....or I wish to obtain....
17. APPROVED
Q Continue with the next ATC agency
18. RECLEARED
R I have received all of your last transmission
19. REQUEST
S Repeat all of your last transmission
20. ACKNOWLEDGE
T No or Permission not granted or That is not correct
21. APPROACH
U An ATC radar controller
14. DISREGARD
8. You are the pilot of MISSION 01. Match the messages or replies to ATC to the
correct situations in the table below. Make similar messages or replies to the rest
of the situations.
A
B
WITTERING, MISSION 01, RADIO CHECK 121.45
C
D
LEVEL CONTROL, SAY AGAIN
APPROACH, MISSION 01, SPEAK SLOWLY
MISSION 01, REQUEST DESCEND TO 1500 FEET
page 88
ATC Terminology
2.
Situation
At Wittering you wish to know if your radio is working on frequency
121.45
You wish to take off from Kinloss
3.
You wish to descend to 1500 feet
4.
You have not understand the message from Prague Control
5.
You have been told to listen on a frequency but did not hear which one
6.
You told ATC that you were heading 240, but you are heading 340
7.
8.
You are not sure if Ramstein ATC received your last message and you
need to repeat that you are level at 3000 feet
ATC has just cleared you to climb to flight level 390
9.
You have received the last message
10.
ATC has told you to contact Pardubice on frequency 235.2
11.
You have heard the last message and will obey it
12.
You have difficulty understanding ATC and need them to speak more
slowly to you
1.
9.Read the information about the weather transmissions, then work in pairs.
(XI.III.).
WEATHER TRANSMISSIONS AT AIRFIELDS
Before leaving an airfield, pilots need information about weather at and around that
airfield. If the airfield is small, they contact Air Traffic Control and get the information
from there. If the airfield is large, pilots use weather information that is broadcast by
the ATIS (Air Traffic Information Service). This is broadcast non stop on one radio
frequency. An example of such broadcast is shown below.
Information
Cottesmore – Information B
1500 hrs
wind 350/20 (degrees/knots)
temperature -2
QFE 1003 (hectopascalls)
QNH 1025 (hectopascalls)
page 89
ATC Terminology
VOCABULARY
Acknowledge. Potvrďte (tj. potvrďte mi, že jste zprávu přijal a rozuměl jí).
Affirm. Ano.
approach approach (přiblížení)
Approved. Schváleno.
ATIS (i.e. aerodrome traffic information service) letištní informační služba
Cleared. Povoleno.
Confirm. Potvrďte (tj. Potvrďte mi, že jsem přijal správně následující zprávu… nebo
Přijal jste správně tuto zprávu?)
Contact. Přejděte (tj. Navažte radiové spojení s…)
Correction. Oprava.
Disregard. Neberte v úvahu.
Go ahead. Vysílejte (nebo… Pokračujte ve vysílání).
Check. Zkontrolujte.
Monitor. Monitorujte.
Negative. Negativ (tj. Ne….nebo Povolení není potvrzeno…nebo To není správné)
QFE tlak vztažený k nadmořské výšce letiště
QNH barometrický tlak vztažený na střední hladinu moře
Recleared. Znovu povoleno.
Report. Oznamte.
Request. Žádám.
Roger. Rozumím.
Say again. Opakujte.
Stand by. Čekejte.
Wilco. Provedu.
Words twice. Slova dvakrát (tj. Vysílejte každé slovo dvakrát …nebo Vysílám
každé slovo dvakrát)
knot uzel (1 námořní míle za hodinu – námořní míle = 1.852m)
page 90