Maverick has Entered the Chat

Advisory Circular 90-66C and the Art of Good Radio Communications by Stephen Pradarelli

Earlier this year, I flew a Cessna 172 from my home airport at Greencastle Aero Club in Oxford, Iowa, (IA24) to nearby Iowa City (KIOW) to brush up on my landings.
 
It was a beautiful day, and the uncontrolled airport was busy. Bonanzas, Piper Arrows, the medevac copter serving the local university hospital, and an occasional business jet kept my head on a swivel as I worked the left circuit for Runway 25. Because KIOW is uncontrolled, it also meant lots of radio chatter as pilots called out their positions and intentions.
 
All went smoothly, until my ninth touch and go, when a kid joined the choir to inform us he was approaching the airport. Didn’t tell us which direction he was coming from, how far away he was, what altitude he was at, or how he intended to join the pattern once he arrived.
 
Even more annoying, what little he was saying he was saying in his best Tom Cruise Maverick impression: laconic, Spitfire-sure of himself, and almost bored-sounding with this whole flying enterprise. 
 
Except this wasn’t Top Gun, and if memory serves, he was flying a Cessna 150, not an F/A-18 Super Hornet. The attitude didn’t fit the airframe. But it did make me (and probably other pilots in the pattern) nervous. I’d argue a poor communicator you can’t see is more dangerous than a radio-silent pilot you can see.
 
I planned to do a few more touch-and-goes, keeping my eyes peeled for a plane popping out of nowhere. But when the pilot came on again several minutes later, saying he was coming in for a “touchdown,” I decided I’d had enough of mini-Maverick and made my go after the next touch a go-home.
 
Understanding pattern etiquette at an uncontrolled airport--including how to communicate with your fellow pilots--isn’t just about being polite; it’s about reducing accidents, protecting property, and saving lives. Nearly half of all general aviation accidents take place in the pattern, mostly during landings and takeoffs. So it’s no surprise the FAA has taken steps to help ensure everyone using these airports is playing by the same rules.
 
In June 2023, the FAA issued a circular on the subject titled Non-Towered Airport Flight Operations (AC No: 90-66C), recommending “traffic patterns, communications phraseology, and operational procedures for airplanes and their kin (gliders, hot air balloons, parachutes, etc.). 
 
“This AC stresses safety as the primary objective in these operations,” the document states. A majority of the circular stresses the importance of practicing good radio communication.
 
One way to stay on top of pattern procedures is from the comfort of your home, using the PlaneEnglish Aviation Radio Simulator (ARSim). The app devotes an entire unit to pattern basics, comms, situational awareness, and conflict avoidance.
 

While the FAA doesn’t regulate entry into the traffic pattern, it does have thoughts on the importance of pilots announcing their intentions, whether they’re planning to fly over midfield to join downwind, joining on a 45-degree angle, or making a straight-in approach.
 
The AC says that aircraft planning a straight-in approach don’t have any priority over other aircraft in the pattern--but they still are obligated to make their intentions known about 10 miles from the airport on the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF).
 
The AC urges pilots to call out all positions (and intentions) at every phase of flight: approaching the airport, entering the pattern, flying the pattern, landing, taxiing, etc.
 
Aircraft flying into uncontrolled airports under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) in VMC (Visual Meteorological Conditions) have a particular responsibility to keep pattern traffic apprised of their position and intentions, even if they’re following a flight plan.
 
The AC says pilots of those aircraft should be alert for other aircraft in the pattern to avoid interrupting the flow of traffic and should bear in mind they do not have priority over other VFR traffic.
 
“To avoid the risk of a midair collision, communicate with the pilots already in the traffic pattern and advise them of your intentions, and determine the safety of flying the published missed approach, or conducting a touch and go or a full stop landing,” the AC says.
 
Not communicating in the pattern is dangerous, but so is employing unnecessary or confusing communications. The longer you key your mic, the less opportunity there is for other pilots to make or hear calls from other aircraft. 
 
AC No. 90-66C says to keep radio calls clear, precise, and brief.
 
“Keep in mind that while you are communicating, you may block transmissions from other aircraft that may be departing or landing in the opposite direction to your aircraft due to IFR operations, noise abatement, obstacle avoidance, or runway length requirements,” the advisory circular states.
 
The document also encourages pilots to avoid using the words “to” and “for,” which may be confused with runway numbers or altitudes (e.g. 2 and 4).
 
“Be specific and clear so that other pilots in the pattern are not confused as to the runway or procedure you intend to use to ensure you and the other pilots are clear as to each other’s positions within the traffic pattern to mitigate the possibility of a midair collision,” it says.
 
Multiple airports within “earshot” of your radio often share the same frequency as your airport. To avoid confusion, the AC also reminds pilots to say the airport’s name (rather than its callsign) at the beginning and end of each self-announcement transmission.
 
For example, the AC says, “When landing at Midwest National Airport (KGPH), state, ‘Midwest National Traffic’ as stated on the VFR aeronautical chart and as found in the Airport’s Supplemental Chart information. Do not use the town’s name ‘Mosby Traffic’ or ‘Clay County Traffic.’”
 
The AC also encourages pilots to clarify the intentions of another pilot if they do not fully understand his or her intentions. You might be dealing with a nervous student pilot who hasn’t fully developed her radio skills, a distracted pilot who forgets to make a call, a pilot who thought he was making a call but was actually “stepped on” by another simultaneous transmission, or even a radio failure.
 
Looking back and my experience at Iowa City, I’m glad I trusted my gut about “Top Gun” and his minimalist approach to communicating. But it would have been much better--for my sake and the sake of the other pilots in the pattern--if I’d radioed the Cessna 150 pilot and asked him to state his position and plan more clearly.
 
Maybe he would have answered, maybe he wouldn’t have. But you don’t know unless you ask.
 
In the end, a lot of aviation safety comes down to good communication.
Stephen Pradarelli is a private pilot who flies out of Green Castle Aero Club (IA24) in Oxford, Iowa. He’s living proof that pretty much anyone can become a pilot, since he began his journey in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, about 25 years before finally earning his airman’s certificate in Iowa in 2021 (after kid, work, and other life delays). A former newspaper journalist and longtime communications director for the University of Iowa, his career took a more meditative turn in 2022, when he became the communications director for the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation, which supports 11 Buddhist monasteries around the world.  

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