Listening to Real-World Radio Communications
I have a confession to make.
When my family is travelling or even just late at night after they go to bed, I will cue up video after video of …
Real-world air traffic control recordings.
It’s terrible, I know. Sometimes, I don’t even wait until I’m alone!
Accidents & Serious Incidents
But seriously, there are people out there that, following an accident or serious incident, download and edit together the ATC communications from the event. Some add radar plot animations and/or provide sub-titles and/or translations.
The inspiration for this post came from this video by VASAviation on the recent runway excursion by Pegasus Airlines in Istanbul. This accident resulted in the deaths of three people and must have been extremely traumatic for the passengers, crew and ground staff who attended the scene. I found the interactions between the tower and the responding vehicles very interesting despite them speaking in Turkish (subtitles provided).
Comic Relief
And not so seriously, sometimes I like to go full avgeek and listen to some funny* ATC-aircraft exchanges. The king of these has to be “Kennedy Steve” as he works JFK Ground.
There are a lot more recordings on Youtube and there are other platforms where you can listen live. So, whether its to learn lessons, increase you exposure, practising maintaining a listen watch or just winding down at the end of the day, there are some great examples of the good, the bad and the ugly of our industry just waiting for you online.
* Well, I think they’re funny
Image credit: (cc) Guilherme Rossi on Pexels
