On Instruments: Say position and status

That’s true enough, but old-fashioned position reports still play a part. Radars go out of service. Some parts of the nation may not have complete radar coverage owing to technical issues or widely spaced radar sites in mountainous terrain. Some airports aren’t covered by ATC radar services. Controllers may ask your position at any time. You may find yourself flying a long overwater leg with areas of non-coverage. And never forget: Federal aviation regulations require that you make position reports under certain situations. So maybe position reports aren’t so old-fashioned after all.

Let’s say you’re flying on an IFR flight plan and have filed a route using Victor airways, with intersections and VORs defining each leg. If the central symbols for those checkpoints are filled in with a solid color, then they are compulsory reporting points, and you must report over them—unless ATC tells you otherwise. Triangles or other symbols not filled in? Then they’re noncompulsory reporting points, and you’re off the hook for radio calls—again, unless ATC asks for them.

Are you flying on an IFR flight plan, but have been given a VFR-on-top clearance? Then any fixes along your flight path may also become compulsory reporting points if they’ve been designated as such. Flying direct routes using GPS also may require position reports when passing over any flight-planned fixes—unless ATC says those reports aren’t necessary, which indeed may be the case. It’s a safe bet that some pilots who fly only in radar-saturated areas may have gone for years without having to make position reports.

However, should ATC say “radar contact lost” and you’re not in ATC radar contact, a controller’s hands are tied. Now you are expected to make position reports at all compulsory reporting points. Haven’t made many position reports lately? Then your technique’s probably become a tad rusty. Remember the PTATEN mnemonic you learned in training for the instrument rating? Well, it’s still around, and should still be in your skill set.

If the central symbols for those checkpoints are filled in with a solid color, then they are compulsory reporting points.PTATEN stands for the elements of a position report: Position; Time; Altitude; Type of flight plan; Estimated time of arrival at the next reporting point; and Name of the reporting point after that. Finally, any remarks about the flight can be tacked to the end of the report.

Here’s how a full-blown position report might sound. To alert controllers that you want to make a position report, some pilots preface it by making a brief initial call, such as “Boston Center, November One-Two-Three-Four-Five, position.” When Center says “go ahead with your report,” you go into PTATEN mode: “Boston Center, November One-Two-Three-Four-Five is over Chester VOR at 1605 Zulu; 9,000 feet; IFR; Estimating Gardner VOR at 1635 Zulu; Concord next.”

Other nonposition status reports are mandatory when flying in a nonradar environment (see “Status Reports,” opposite page).

Radars go out of service. Some airports aren’t covered by ATC radar services. Controllers may ask your position at any time. So maybe position reports aren’t so old-fashioned after all.It’s also important to make position reports when approaching nontowered airports, or those with towers that are closed. VFR traffic may be in the pattern and radar coverage may not be available. You should make radio calls announcing your position, but bear in mind that VFR pilots may not understand what “final approach fix inbound” means. Instead, use a more generic term, such as “five miles northeast, at 3,000 feet, inbound for a landing on Runway 32.”

And after landing at that nonradar-coverage, nontowered field, you’ll want to make yet another report—to ATC over any remote communications outlet frequencies, or your smartphone, telling them you’ve safely landed and to close your flight plan.

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