Quito Tower, Mike One Echo India Lima ready for takeoff.
When we were in school, we all learned the alphabet song: A, B, C, D… We all have that song stuck in our heads even now. When asked to spell your name, you’ll write it the same way you learned the alphabet. J, O, H, N (if your name is John…)
Not if you’re a pilot!
A pilot would say their name is Juliet-Oscar-Hotel-November.
Are they crazy? Or are we learning our alphabet song wrong?
Not at all. The world of aeronautical communications is closely tied to the lives of thousands of people around the world. The number of people who have never taken a flight in their lives is decreasing as air travel becomes more accessible. Pilots have thousands of lives under their protection and a small error between saying the letter “B” and air traffic control hearing “V” could be fatal.
Communication and safety are crucial in aviation. The International Aviation Alphabet was created to help pilots and air traffic controllers understand each other. Each letter is linked to a word to identify aircraft and airport taxiways. The use of this phonetic alphabet is essential for optimal safety and prevents errors caused by similar-sounding letters.
So, pilots spell in ways that we, ordinary people, don’t understand; however, they keep us safe while we doze on a night flight across the Atlantic.
“Quito Tower, Mike One Echo India Lima ready for takeoff.”
For more information about our English course for pilots and how it can enhance your aviation career, feel free to click in this link or contact us. We are here to help you take off to new heights.