03.10.

2018 A rcraft Call-s gn - SKYbrary Av at on Safety

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Aircraft Call-sign
Article Information

Category: Air Ground Communication

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nd_Communication)

Content source: SKYbrary

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Content control: EUROCONTROL

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Alternatives: Aircraft Callsign, Aircraft Call Sign, Aeroplane Call-sign, Airplane

Call-sign, Airplane Callsign

Contents
1 Definition
2 Description
3 Additional Requirements
4 Further Reading

4.1 FAA

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Definition
03.10.2018 A rcraft Call-s gn - SKYbrary Av at on Safety

An aircraft call sign is a group of alphanumeric characters used to identify an

aircraft in air-ground communications (/index.php/Air-Ground_Communication).
(EUROCONTROL EATM Glossary of Terms)

Description
The rules governing the use of aircraft call signs are laid down in ICAO Annex 10:
Aeronautical Communications, Volume II - Communication Procedures, Chapter
5. Relevant paragraphs are summarised below.

Three different types of aircraft call sign may be encountered (see table below),
as follows:

Type (a) The characters corresponding to the registration marking of the aircraft
(e.g. ABCDE). The name of the aircraft manufacturer or model may be used as a
prefix (e.g. Airbus ABCDE);

Type (b) The telephony designator of the aircraft operating agency, followed by
the last four characters of the registration marking of the aircraft (e.g. Rushair
BCDE);

Type (c) The telephony designator of the aircraft operating agency, followed by
the flight identification (e.g. Rushair 1234).

(/index.php/File:180020.jpg)

Flight identification may be the 'public' flight number used for ticketing and
aircraft handling or it may be an alternative unique alphanumeric string.

Also, the "telephony designator of the aircraft operating agency" will, in airline
use, be the designator of the company for whom the flight is being operated,
which may not be the operator of the aircraft.
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The full call sign must be used when
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establishing communications.
A rcraft Call-s gn - SKYbrary Av at on Safety

After satisfactory communication has been established, abbreviated call signs

may be used provided that no confusion is likely to arise; however, an aircraft
must use its full call sign until the abbreviated call sign has been used by the
ground station.

Call signs may be abbreviated only in the manner shown below (see table above.)

Type (a) The first character of the registration and at least the last two
characters of the full call sign (the name of the aircraft manufacturer or model
may be used in place of the first character);

Type (b) The telephony designator of the aircraft operating agency, followed by at
least the last two characters of the call sign;

Type (c) No abbreviated form.

Most airline call signs belong to type (c) for which there is no abbreviation.
Therefore, abbreviations such as “1234” or “Rushair 34” are not permissible. An
aircraft is not permitted to change its call sign during flight, except temporarily
on the instruction of an air traffic control unit in the interests of safety.

In order to avoid any possible confusion, when issuing ATC clearances and
reading back such clearances, controllers and pilots must always add the call
sign of the aircraft to which the clearance applies.

Additional Requirements
Some countries impose additional call sign requirements. For instance, the FAA
(/index.php/FAA) require that the following criteria are met if a call sign is to be
authorized in the NAS (National Airspace System):

The combination of call sign designator and flight number must not exceed
7 alphanumeric characters;
To avoid similar or same call sign confusion, the call sign designator letters
must immediately be followed in sequence only by the numerals of the
flight number;

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 No additional letters of the alphabet
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are permitted after the call sign
A rcraft Call-s gn - SKYbrary Av at on Safety

designator (except for the bullet below);

For operational purposes, Part 121 and Part 135 scheduled aircraft operators
may use a letter as the final character of the aircraft identification as long
as it is preceded by a numeral (i.e., AAL351A);

Examples of FAA acceptable call sign designators with flight number: MDSTRl,
RDDL172, ABX91, AAL351A and SWA2604.

Examples of FAA unacceptable call sign designators with flight number:

RDDL1720 (more than seven characters), NEWS42G (additional alphabet letter
used for non-scheduled operator), BKA16CH (two alphabet letters), and LBQ17523
(more than seven characters).

Further Reading
HindSight Articles:

HS2 Getting the Message Across

(http://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/161.pdf);
HS2: Analysis of an AIRPROX in Japan
(http://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/27.pdf).

AGC Safety Letters:

Safety Letter December 2004

(http://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/117.pdf);
Safety Letter August 2005
(http://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/121.pdf);
Safety Letter April 2006
(http://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/122.pdf).

EUROCONTROL Action Plan for Air-Ground Communications Safety, including:

AGC Briefing Note 1 - General

(http://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/109.pdf);
AGC Briefing Note 2 - Call Sign Confusion
(http://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/110.pdf);
AGC Briefing Note 4 - Blocked Transmissions
(http://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/112.pdf);
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 AGC Briefing Note 5 - Radio Discipline
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(http://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/113.pdf).

FAA
AC 120-26L: Assignment of Aircraft Call Signs and Associated Telephonies
(http://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/3687.pdf), 25 August 2016

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Categories (/index.php/Special:Categories):
Air Ground Communication (/index.php/Category:Air_Ground_Communication)
Operational Issues (/index.php/Category:Operational_Issues)

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