Why do pilots say niner

In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an explosive charge or rocket motor, carrying the pilot with it.

Pilots say rotate because it is a verbal queue that an airplane has reached its predetermined rotation speed frequently abbreviated to Vr. This is the speed at which control inputs can be applied to lift the nose off the runway and make the airplane fly away. Pilots and air traffic controllers say niner instead of nine to distinguish it from other numbers.

The list goes on and on! This is normally vital information and an error can lead to catastrophic consequences for example a pilot may climb or descends to an incorrect level. Below is a list of how pilots and air traffic controllers pronounce the numbers zero to ten:. Most numbers are pronounced more or less as you would expect, but there are four, maybe five, big exceptions. The numbers 4 and 7 are the least changed in terms or pronunciation , with just a slight emphasis on the end of the words.

The number 9 is the most changed, and the similarly-pronounced 5 is changed as well. It is amazing how often, in my time as an air traffic controller, pilots and ATCOs will confuse a three with a two and vice-versa, even when pronouncing the words correctly. Two and three is by far the most confused pair of numbers in my 14 years of experience and you would not expect that to be the case. It is especially bad with radio frequencies that contain 2s and 3s, and flight levels like , , and On a daily basis, the correct frequency and level need to be clarified.

The above serves to highlight how important clear and easily understood communication is, even between native speakers. Numbers that are fully understood only makes communicating between pilots and ATC, and thus flying, safer.

It is also why numbers beyond ten are broken up into their individual single digits, like one-zero for 10, two-eight for 28, and so on. It is worth noting that from 1,onwards, the phraseology counts in lots of one-thousand, so for altitude the correct way to say 2,FT is two-thousand eight-hundred feet, not two eight zero zero feet.

Most aviation communication is done via Very-high frequency VHF radio , because it is clear and relatively static-free. However, VHF is line-of-sight so the range is normally restricted to about nautical miles. This phrase originated with Morse Code.

An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. This means all pilots must speak, read, write, and understand English fluently. The simple answer is yes, pilots do and are allowed to sleep during flight but there are strict rules controlling this practice.

Pilots would only normally sleep on long haul flights, although sleep on short haul flights is permitted to avoid the effects of fatigue. According to the AIM flight numbers are pronounced in group form. It is used by some when reporting in after a change of frequency. Thank you.