Air-Traffic Control Towers Key Terms

What you need to know before discussing air-traffic control towers

By Nikki Davis

Making sense of air-traffic control information can be tricky if you don't know what the key words, phrases or acronyms are as you read, listen or watch the words go by. So knowing the proper air-traffic control towers key terms can help you communicate efficiently with those in the field, hobbyists and others. Air-traffic control towers key terms can include aviation charts, airport codes, radar, tower frequency, transmissions and air-traffic control acronyms.

Aviation charts

Aviation charts are aeronautical navigation charts that you can take advantage of when looking for airport codes or planning your next flight.
Try: Find out more about this history of aviation and aeronautical charting from the Federal Aviation Administration National Aeronautical Charting Office - NACO.

Airport codes

The International Air Transport Association airport code is a three-letter code that designates airport names around the world.
Try: Look up the code for your hometown airport in Airport Codes of the World.

Radar

Radar monitoring of aircraft helps allow clearance distances and allows the flight controllers to issue instructions for separating aircraft from one another.
Try: Get extensive information about radar from the FAA.

Tower frequency

The tower frequency reserved for air-traffic control and pilot communication is in the very high frequency (VHF) band.
Try: Learn how to find tower frequency from Control Tower Tips.

Transmissions

Transmissions are made by air-traffic controllers to communicate with pilots. They can be made via a push-to-talk radio-telephony system and be a one-way transmission on one frequency at a time.
Try: Monitor transmissions from the Atlanta air-traffic control tower using ATCMONITOR. One gripping example of air-traffic transmissions is that from 9/11. Read about the transcript and transmission information from CNN.

CAS

The air-traffic control industry uses a wide variety of acronyms, such as CAS (calibrated air speed), to help speed up the communication process.
Try: Take advantage of a full glossary of air-traffic control acronyms from the ATC Center & Electronic Jobs Network. Find out more about CAS from MathPages.