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Why do pilots say 5 by 5?

The phrase five by five can be used informally to mean good signal strength or loud and clear. An early example of this phrase was in 1946, recounting a wartime conversation.



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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.

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Cactus was chosen. America West was based in Phoenix, Arizona near the Sonoran Desert – home of the giant Saguaro cactus. In 2006, America West merged with US Airways. The Cactus call sign survived the merger and all US Airways flights were soon known as “Cactus” on the radio.

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Pan-Pan, short for “possible assistance needed,” is used to communicate an urgent, but not emergency, situation over VHF radio, in the case of aviation, to air traffic control. Examples could include a recreational pilot getting lost, or perhaps needing to climb to a higher altitude to sort a problem out.

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Roger simply means you have received the transmission. In other words, Roger is an acknowledgement of a transmission. Wilco is rarely used, but it means you have received the message and will comply, some old pilots combine the two in the redundant Roger wilco.

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What does 10-4 mean? Roger that! 10-4 is a way of saying “message received” in radio communications. It's also used as a way to “you got it.”

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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.

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What do pilots say when crashing? Mayday. And that's because it's a word that's been used for the last century to immediately indicate an emergency. ... Mayday!

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The number of “souls” on an aircraft refers to the total living bodies on the plane: every passenger, pilot, flight attendant and crew member, according to Lord-Jones. Pilots often report the number of “souls” when declaring an emergency, she says, so rescuers know the amount of people to search for.

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The title of Captain can officially be used by someone whom flys a multi-pilot aircraft (aeroplane or helicopter) that is the holder of an ATPL(A/H) (Airline Transportation Pilots License), and is the Pilot In Command (PIC) of the flight and qualified to the rank of Captain in a multi-pilot certified aircraft type and ...

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Clapping is a way of feeling happy for a safe landing, and knowing someone is arriving to the destination. It's an excited experience.

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Army aviation elements may use a different nomenclature, as the nature of helicopter-fired weapons is almost always air-to-surface. Fox is short for foxtrot, the NATO phonetic designation for the letter F, which is short for fire.

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