Training and Safety Tip: 'Say again' when needed
If you’re anxious about understanding air traffic control taxi instructions, there are a few words you need to have at the tip of your tongue.
Suppose you want to fly to an unfamiliar airport. You’ve done your research—planned your route, studied the airport procedures and the diagram, and checked the weather and the notams. All your pilot “Spidey senses” tell you that you’re ready to go.
By any reasonable measure, your outing has been wildly successful so far.
As you roll out, the controller fires off taxi instructions like he’s running an auction. The prescribed route to parking goes way beyond a basic “turn left at Foxtrot.” Instead, it sounds like he’s given directions to taxi all the way to another airport.
Your head, along with your aircraft, is still on the runway, and you’re trying to process all that information. As you exit the runway, your task-saturated brain relays the message to your mouth. You read back the instructions—incorrectly, it turns out.
“That's not what I told you,” a disembodied voice from the tower sternly responds.
Now you’re stopped on the safe side of the hold short line on Taxiway Foxtrot, and you honestly have no idea what you did wrong, or what comes next.
In this situation, there are three appropriate responses (and a whole bunch of inappropriate ones).
The most underused phrase in a pilot’s vocabulary is “stand by.” If you need a moment to clean up the aircraft and take notes, tell the controller to “stand by.” At most general aviation airports, you won’t have a jet screaming up behind you, and ATC will be happy to give you a sec to collect your wits.
Then, when you’re ready, there’s no shame in asking the tower to “say again” or even better, “speak slower.” Caffeine works in mysterious ways, and who knows, your friendly controller may have had one too many cups of Joe this morning.
If you’ve lost your bearings and your airport diagram, and it all just sounds like gibberish, there’s always the option of requesting “progressive taxi” instructions—step-by-step guidance (explaining it to you like you’re 5 years old) to help you navigate this brand-new-to-you airfield. Requesting progressive taxi instructions is not a sign of weakness—it is a sign of wisdom and good judgment, prioritizing prevention of a runway incursion.
Never forget that you are the pilot in command, and if you are unable to comply with any ATC instructions or you just didn’t understand them, say so. Because a wrong turn can ruin everyone’s day.
