Why do pilots say Niner instead of nine?


Why do pilots say Niner instead of nine? Changing “nine” to “niner” adds another vowel sound, which may help distinguish them when radio reception is poor. Niner is spoken for the numeral 9 to avoid it being mistaken for 5.


What does cigar mean for pilots?

CIGAR – Controls, Instruments, Gas, Attitude (trim and flaps), Run-up – example of before take-off checks.


What does foxtrot mean for pilot?

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.


Do pilots say Roger?

Moreover, there is a list of words with special meaning on flights. For example, “Roger” meaning “received”; “affirm” meaning “yes”; “approach” meaning “coming to land”, etc. The language of aviation is changing and nowadays following the current spelling alphabet pilots use “Romeo” instead of “Roger”.


What is Z in aviation?

If we use the pilot's alphabet, there is no way we can confuse these letters. “C” becomes “Charlie”, “D” becomes “Delta”, “E” becomes “Echo”, “T” becomes “Tango”, and “Z” becomes “Zulu”.


Why do pilots say squawk?

Air traffic control units use the term squawk when they are assigning an aircraft a transponder code, e.g., Squawk 7421. Squawk thus can be said to mean select transponder code or squawking xxxx to mean I have selected transponder code xxxx.


What do pilots say to ATC before takeoff?

A Proper Takeoff Call First, let them know who you are, where you are, and then what you'd like to do. Try to give them as much information as possible so they can plan appropriately.


How do pilots say yes?

Affirm: Contrary to popular belief, pilots do not say “affirmative” when they mean “yes” – the correct term is affirm, pronounced “AY-firm”. Deadhead: This refers to a member of the airline crew who is travelling in a passenger seat.


Do pilots still say Niner?

Pilots pronounce numbers similar to regular English, with a few exceptions: The number three (3) is pronounced “tree.” The number five (5) is pronounced “fife.” The number nine (9) is pronounced “niner.”


Why do pilots say blue?

The callout from the pilots like LOC blue serves to remind themselves of the current flight guidance modes, and to maintain awareness of mode changes. This is also to ensure that their mental idea of what the aircraft will do next is up to date and fits to the current flight situation.


How do pilots say hi to each other?

One of the issues on a long flight is that pilots tend to get bored and non-attentive so talking to each other helps. Someone has to say it: They have a choice of “Hi there!” or” 'lo there!”.


Why do pilots tell you how high you are?

Why do pilots tell you how high you are? Answer: It is normally part of the welcome aboard announcement as a matter of interest. We provide the time of the flight, the cruise altitude, landmarks of interest along way and the weather.


What do pilots say when crashing?

A pilot who encounters a Distress condition should declare an emergency by beginning the initial communication with the word “Mayday,” preferably repeated three times.


Why do pilots always say Niner?

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.


Why do pilots say heavy?

The word heavy means a larger aircraft type, with a Maximum Takeoff Weight of 160 tonnes or more. These aircraft create wake turbulence from their wings and require extra separation between following aircraft, and the use of heavy reminds other pilots of that fact.