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Concepts

Phraseology is an established procedure intended to ensure uniformity in radiotelephony communications, to reduce message transmission time to a minimum and to provide clear and concise clearances.

Important Note

In real life, pilots coordinate with ATC calmly and without stepping on each other on the frequency. In the virtual environment, avoid as much as possible calling the controller while they are communicating with another aircraft, or when the controller has passed information that must be read back by the aircraft: wait for the readback and then make your call to the controller.

General

Supplementary Phrases

The phraseology presented in this Manual is not intended to be exhaustive. When strictly necessary, air traffic controllers, aeronautical station operators and pilots may use additional phrases, but they should deviate from the standard phraseology as little as possible.

Principles

In accordance with ICAO recommendations, the following principles were adopted when defining the words and expressions of the phraseology:

  1. words and expressions that ensure better understanding in radiotelephony transmissions are used;
  2. words and expressions whose pronunciation could lead to different interpretations are avoided; and
  3. in English phraseology, words of Latin origin are preferably used.

What to Avoid

Words should not be used that:

  1. due to their phonetic similarity, may cause confusion in understanding.

Examples

Aguardar with decolar, hold with roll, afirmativo with negativo.

  1. are devoid of meaning.

Examples

Ok, ah, uhm...

Clearances and Instructions

The pilot-in-command shall read back (repeat) the following safety-related clearances and instructions transmitted by voice:

  1. ATC route clearances;
  2. clearances and instructions to enter, land on, take off from, hold short of, cross, taxi on and backtrack on any runway; and
  3. runway in use, altimeter settings, SSR codes, level instructions, heading and speed instructions and transition levels.

Note

If a pilot reads back a clearance or instruction incorrectly, the controller shall transmit the word "negative" followed by the correct version.

Tip

Use AFIRMO instead of AFIRMATIVO.

Important

Phraseology must not be used with a mix of languages.