Phrase 1 of 5Phraseology questions
Words that acknowledge and check
These words say yes or no, confirm that a message arrived, and check that it arrived right. Learn each word and its meaning both ways round.
The pattern
You say
AFFIRM (or NEGATIVE) details, callsign
ATC says
callsign, confirm item
Example
- ATC
SpiceJet 318, Mumbai Control, confirm flight level two four zero
- You
Affirm, flight level two four zero, SpiceJet 318
- ATC
SpiceJet 318, squawk four three five one
- You
Squawk four three five one, SpiceJet 318
- ATC
SpiceJet 318, correct
The list
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| ACKNOWLEDGE | Tell me you have received and understood this message. |
| AFFIRM | Yes. |
| NEGATIVE | No. Or: permission not granted, that is not correct, or not capable. |
| ROGER | I have received all of your last transmission. |
| WILCO | I understand your message and will do what it says. |
| CONFIRM | Please verify this for me: a clearance, an instruction, an action or information. |
| CORRECT | True, or accurate. |
| CHECK | Examine a system or a procedure. No answer is normally expected. |
| READ BACK | Repeat all, or the part I name, of this message back to me exactly as you received it. |
Remember
- ✓ROGER only says you received the message. It never answers a question that needs a read-back or a yes or no (MATS 12.6.1).
- ✓CONFIRM asks for a check; AFFIRM is the yes. CORRECT means true or accurate. MATS prints it as ATC's answer to the read-back of a conditional clearance (12.16.4.10 k), and ATC answers any read-back the same way. CORRECTION is a different word: it fixes a mistake.
- ✓CHECK asks you to examine a system or procedure, and no answer is normally expected (MATS 12.6.1).
- ✓ACKNOWLEDGE asks you to let the sender know you received and understood. READ BACK asks you to repeat the message, or the part named, exactly as you received it (MATS 12.6.1).
Now say it out loud, with the examiner playing ATC.
Practise in the simulator