“Cessna 9130 Delta, Oakland Center, radio check,” says the controller.
“Cessna 9130 Delta, loud and clear,” the pilot answers.
“Cessna 9130,” says the controller, “that was my third attempt to call you. If you want to continue with flight following, you’re going to have to listen for your call sign.”
Why didn’t the pilot answer ATC the first 2 times the controller called him? I can think of 3 possibilities. 1. He was distracted. 2. He heard ATC but chose not to answer. 3. He got tired of listening and mentally tuned out.
Reason 1, distraction, is easy to understand because we’ve all been there. Something happens in the cockpit that takes your attention away from listening to the radio. When flying, the possibilities for distraction are endless. I could name some distractions, but I’m sure you’ve experienced enough of your own to be very familiar with the problem.
Reason 2, prioritizing, is also pretty easy to grasp. From our very first day as student pilots, our flight instructors told us our priorities were, “Aviate, navigate, communicate”, in that order. If flying the aircraft or staying on an airway centerline requires your full attention, then answering the radio can wait.

Learning Radio Skills from Pilots
There is a misconception among new pilots that listening to other pilots speak on the radio is a good way to learn radio phrasing. My opinion is, maybe, but probably not. Listen to the audio in this 1:10 video. These are all presumably experienced pilots communicating with Peachtree Tower at Dekalb-Peachtree Airport (KPDK). Ear-opening, yes?
5 thoughts on “Listen for Your Call Sign”
I think your points about distraction and inattention are well taken, but there are a couple of other classes of errors that lead to missed calls.
One is the “oops” sort of error. This happens when we set a control incorrectly or bump something we didn’t intend to. These include setting the volume too low, hitting the standby flip-flop for the COM radio instead of the NAV one, switching at the wrong time, or button-pushing mistakes with new or upgraded equipment. Occasionally getting a radio check if things seem too quiet can help avoid the problem when it becomes more critical.
Related to distraction is the “drowned out” error. I often want to be able to give ATC the ATIS code on contact along with the requested approach, so I’ll dial up ATIS on the second radio. If there’s a call while copying that, it might get missed. Making the primary radio a little louder helps.
And, then, just for renters, we have the “who am I” problem. It’s not uncommon to hear people on frequency who don’t respond because it takes a while to recognize an unfamiliar tail number.
All very good points. Thank you, James.
Hi Jeff.
Thanks for writing this blog post.
I’ve found that as a renter of aircraft at the flight school at Hanscom (Bedford MA) I need to remind myself which aircraft I’m flying that day. I do this by writing the call sign on the top of my kneepad. I’ve created my own flight plan document and put that item at the top. Perhaps this could work for other pilots.
A question back to you. How do you as a professional pilot remember your flight number on each leg? For instance, “Delta 765 …” Is there some secret recipe? Seems like I here the pros fumble on this too.
Peace,
Drew
I’m very familiar with the “renter’s problem”. Every leg I fly in an airliner, there’s a different call sign in play due to a different flight number assigned to every flight. My strategy is to listen carefully for my company I.D. and at least the first digit of my flight number, which I usually have written on a piece of paper clipped to the control yoke, as you mentioned, Andrew. If I hear my company I.D. and the first digit of my flight number, I’m all ears for the rest of the flight number. If the whole call sign matches what I’ve got written on paper, ATC gets my full attention. If the company I.D. isn’t my own, or the first digit of the call sign doesn’t match, I’ll redirect my attention back to whatever I was occupied with previously.
Renters can do the same thing. If you are renting a Cessna 172, listen carefully when ATC says, “Skyhawk”. Have your N-number written on paper and clipped to the yoke. If, for example, your N-number is 728LC, and ATC calls, “Skyhawk 7 . . .” pay close attention for the match in registration number. If you hear, for example, “Skyhawk 9 . . .” or “Archer anything”, the next transmission isn’t for you. With practice, this technique becomes automatic.
When you hear the pros miss a call from ATC, it’s likely the pilots were shooting the breeze with each other. This is why it’s airline policy to have pilots stop all non-essential conversation when flying below 10,000′ above airport elevation. The policy is called “sterile cockpit” and is designed to allow pilots to concentrate on the radio and flying when the workload is at its highest.
I listen to Robert Grey Approach 120.075 on an R/O BC365CRS Conventional Desktop Scanner • has a secondary repeater on 125.9 which is Clearance Delivery for Draughon-Miller • I have definite opinions — based on a few conversations with a Fleet Captain I am not lacking for natural ability → I see this in your WP Feed ◘ The calls for Flight Following are insufficiently prompt for my nature & notions: Lets take my fictitious Tail Number N317
( i live on Texas State Highway 317 )
Initial call: Gray Approach N317 — reporting XRAY SIERRA 57 requesting flight following to GOOCH SPRINGS VORTAC ◘ or better let us say SIDON TACAN { SIDON is a Class: H-VORTAC … } to BIGBEE VOR DME via Victor 278 to vulcan VORTAC ◘ First thing I expect is to have controller wonder why a VFR flight is calling out Victor Airways but what I want is there are 2 Restricted on either side ~ so I would say for assistance avoiding Restricted
CLOUMBUS 1 MOA is to the left on my fantasy planning then MERIDIAN 1 EAST MOA is on the other side then first thing is finding if there is a TRACON or just who to call • this is for going from KTPL in N97075 — I have a nice front panel picture of it on Google Reviews for Central Texas Flight Training & Testing which is getting more thumb-up than what Greg is getting — to Stiner [ JAU ] which is Jacksboro TN Airport ◘ KJAU – Colonel Tommy C Stiner Airfield → This is because Lisa just dumper her husband and got a job at Clinton TN Wallmart
Obviously Lisa must be very amazing but those Flight Following requests sound like Stuck Mike to me