Radio communications are a critical link in the Air Traffic Control System. The air traffic controllers must always know where each airplane is and what it is going to do. The pilot and ground controller talk to each other through the radio installation in the airplane and similar radio systems on the ground. There are ground radio sets in Control Towers at the airports and at stations throughout the air lanes. This is known as the Air Traffic Control System (ATC). All airliners and most business aircraft use this system for safe and efficient flight in the national airspace system.
The single most important thought in pilot/controller communications over the radio is clearly understanding each other.
The radio sets on the airplane instrument panel are designed to both send and receive on the same frequency. The airport controllers and air traffic controllers each have certain assigned frequencies to make it easy to set up communications between specific airplanes and ground control.
A standard phonetic alphabet has been designed to make sure both pilot and controller can clearly identify the letters and numbers used. A copy of this alphabet is produced below.
A - ALPHA B - BRAVO C - CHARLIE D - DELTA E - ECHO F - FOXTROT
G - GOLF H - HOTEL I - INDIA J - JULIETT K - KILO L - LIMA
M - MIKE N - NOVEMBER O - OSCAR P - PAPA Q - QUEBEC R - ROMEO
S - SIERRA T - TANGO U - UNIFORM V - VICTOR W - WHISKEY X - XRAY
Y - YANKEE Z - ZULU
1 - ONE 2 - TWO 3 - THREE 4 - FOUR 5 - FIVE 6 -SIX
7- SEVEN 8 - EIGHT 9 - NINER 0 - ZERO
Example: "Tower, this is YANKEE ZULU ONE NINER NINER TANGO (YZ199T), ready for take off".
"Roger, YANKEE ZULU ONE NINER NINER TANGO. Proceed on
runway ONE NINER RIGHT (19 RIGHT)."