ComPilots Aviation News Portal - Airplane 54 Where Are You??? / Rose Marie Kern

Have you ever called for a pilot briefing, or to activate a VFR flight plan, or to get an IFR clearance, and found yourself confused as to where you were? It happens now and then – especially when a pilot has been flying for awhile, making multiple hops. I recall once while I was working at El Paso Flight Service, a tired looking man walked up to the briefing counter (remember those?), gave me his call sign then asked for a briefing to El Paso.

Amused, I looked at the disheveled young man and asked him if he knew where he was. He looked up startled and said “Midland?”. When I told him he was in El Paso he shook his head and walked out.

A few minutes later another pilot came in. He gave me the same aircraft ID as the previous gentleman and asked for a briefing. Smiling, I asked him if he knew where he was. When he looked at me strangely I relayed what had just occurred. He laughed and said, “Don’t mind him, he’s just the navigator!”

Mistakes in airport identification can also be made when pilots and flight service people do not communicate all the necessary data. This can have serious consequences to safety when an IFR clearance is involved.

Though the pilot and the flight service specialist are both supposed to ensure the identification of the departure and destination stations, frequently a pilot will call for clearance off of an airport, but not give the alphanumeric designation of that airport or the state. They may simply say “Off of Peru going to Columbus”.

A specialist working the Great Lakes area clearance delivery line should verify that the pilot means Bloomington, Indiana, not Bloomington, Illinois by naming the three letter identifier as well as the state. This works most of the time, but only if the pilot knows the identifier.

At one time in the past a pilot called for clearance off of Greenville, South Carolina. He specified the state, but did not give the three letter identifier. When the FSS specialist called ATC for a clearance there was no flight plan. The specialist relayed that information to the pilot, who was annoyed, and a new flight plan was put into the system quickly. Based on the pilot’s request, the identifier for Greenville, South Carolina was entered into the flight plan. ATC gave the specialist a clearance.

The Air Traffic center over Greenville, NORTH Carolina was not happy when this aircraft popped up into their airspace.

Who was at fault? The pilot who clearly stated South Carolina? Possibly. How about the specialist who did not announce the three letter ID of the airport? That may have triggered the pilot to realize something was wrong. The fact that the flight plan was not available to the ATC facility in control of that airspace should have given both of them pause.

Another reason to always use the alphanumerics lies in similar sounding airport names combined with crackly radios or cell phones. There are six Pittstown, Pennsylvania airports and three Potstown, New Jerseys. Not to mention a Potsdam, New York not that far away. Some of these airports use the same frequency to request clearance from flight service – so it is not a given that the specialist working radio will automatically know which airport you must be departing if you just say Pittstown.

The reason for stating the airport or town name in addition to the three letter identification is because the letter combinations are frequently similar within a given state. For instance, there are four airports in Alabama whose identifications are a combination of either Zero, eight and Alpha, or O, eight and alpha. (i.e.: A08, 08A) Zeros and O’s are often confused.

It is wise to positively indentify the destination airport as well so that when the specialist talks to the ATC facility controlling the airspace the correct flight plan is used. There have been instances where more than one flight plan was filed for an aircraft off of the same departure airport, but going to different destinations. Sometimes this is because two different pilots filed, or one flight plan was filed by a student and another by his instructor. Sometimes a pilot files using DUATS and an hour later decides to refile to a different destination without removing the first flight plan.

To ensure your safety, always state the alphanumeric identifier of the airports you are departing from and flying to as well as the airport or town name and the state. Positive communication only takes a moment, but it keeps us all out of trouble.

Rose Marie Kern has worked in ATC for over 25 years. If you have a question you can contact her email: author@rosemariekern.com