Why do pilots say tree instead of three?

“Tree,” “fife” and “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.

Why does the military say tree instead of three?

The digit 3 is specified as tree so that it is not pronounced sri; the long pronunciation of 4 (still found in some English dialects) keeps it somewhat distinct from for; 5 is pronounced with a second "f" because the normal pronunciation with a "v" is easily confused with "fire" (a command to shoot); and 9 has an extra ...

Why is it Niner instead of nine?

Changing “nine” to “niner” adds another vowel sound, which may help distinguish them when radio reception is poor. Show activity on this post. "Niner" is spoken for the numeral 9 to avoid it being mistaken for 5. This would be better as a comment once you gain enough reputation.

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.

What do pilots mean when they say they are pumpkins?

If an aircraft is not equipped with position lights, it will turn into a figurative pumpkin with the setting of the sun and it should not be flown again until the sun rises.

Pilot´s alphabet history explained by Captain Joe

Why do pilots say bravo?

Phonetic Alphabet

This is to avoid the possible confusion between letters if you would simply say the letter itself. For example, the letters B and V could easily be confused with each other when spoken on the radio. If we instead say "Bravo" or "Victor" it is almost impossible to confuse the two.

Why do they say Niner in the military?

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 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.

Why do pilots say Mayday when they are crashing?

It was the idea of Frederick Mockford, who was a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London. He came up with the idea for “mayday" because it sounded like the French word m'aider, which means “help me." Sometimes a mayday distress call is sent by one vessel on behalf of another vessel in danger.

Why do pilots say rotate?

Summary. Long story short, pilots say rotate as a verbal queue that the aircraft has reached its predetermined V_r and hence appropriate inputs can be applied to safely pitch the aircraft in a nose-up attitude to gain lift.

Why do pilots wear aviators?

Aviators, with their large, teardrop shaped lenses, give pilots' eyes more coverage than any other sunglasses thanks to their design covering the entire field of vision. As pilots fly at such high altitudes, the sunlight can also become unbearably bright, so pilots need all the protection they can get from all around.

What is Alpha Tango Foxtrot?

The ICAO phonetic alphabet has assigned the 26 code words to the 26 letters of the English alphabet in alphabetical order: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

What pilot says before takeoff?

Usually, the Captain will make a small briefing before take-off, sometimes indicating the priority for take-off (e.g. “We are third in priority for take-off, we should depart in about five minutes”). But there is always an announcement like: “Flight attendants, prepare for take-off please.”

What do pilots say when crashing?

THE phrase "Easy Victor" is one that you never want to hear your pilot say on a flight - because it means the plane is going to crash. It's often used by pilots to warn crew to evacuate the plane without alarming passengers according to a flight attendant.

Do you call a pilot Captain?

Commercially-chartered private jet flights in Europe and the US are operated by two pilots. One will take full responsibility for the flight and be referred to as the Captain. If both pilots are Command Course qualified, one pilot will take responsibility for the flight and will be referred to as 'Commander'.

What does squawk 7700 mean?

If a crew resets their transponder to the emergency code of 7700 (squawking 7700), all air traffic control facilities in the area are immediately alerted that the aircraft has an emergency situation. It's up to the crew to let ATC know what the exact situation is.

What does Pan Pan Pan stand for?

Pan-Pan is derived from the French word "panne", which means failure or breakdown. Pan-Pan most often refers to a mechanical failure or breakdown of some kind.

What do pilots say when they land?

Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu. Numbers get special treatment too.

What does easy victor mean?

One of the phrases they learn is "easy victor" which means prepare to evacuate. According to a former flight attendant, the pilot won't just blurt it out. There will be some warning and you'll know there is a problem long before. So you shouldn't worry about listening out for it when you're on board, he said.

What does a red plane mean?

Red indicates an emergency, either a squawk of 7700 (General emergency) or 7600 (radio fail)

What are the ladies on the plane called?

A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are primarily responsible for passenger safety and comfort.

Why do both pilots push the throttle together?

N_Molson has it right, it's to prevent accidental throttle back during tack off.

Why do military say copy that?

Copy. “Copy” has its origins in Morse Code communications. Morse Code operators would listen to transmissions and write down each letter or number immediately, a technique called “copying.” Once voice communications became possible, 'copy' was used to confirm whether a transmission was received.

Why is it called bingo fuel?

"Bingo Fuel" was the amount of fuel remaining to safely reach the "Bingo Field". The "Bingo Field" was the closest land based airfield which could be used as a backup in case the aircraft was unable to land on the aircraft carrier for any reason.

How do you address a pilot?

The easiest way to address the pilot on a commercial flight is by referring to them as Captain, regardless of if it's actually the Captain or the First Officer.