For pilots, new terminology replacing 'Position and Hold' went into effect today. The new ATC command issued in it's place is now 'line up and wait.' This change was implemented to standardize communications between US pilots under FAA regulations and international pilots using ICAO terminology.
With the FAA's emphasis on decreasing runway incursion incidents, a more uniform, easily understood phrase was chosen that should help prevent foreign pilots from misunderstanding a position and hold clearance. Using the phrase that they are already familiar with helps to ease any confusion and also limits misunderstanding a clearance as 'hold position' or other similar terms that may unintentionally cause a pilot to taxi onto an active runway when not cleared to do so.
If you're a pilot and haven't flown today or heard the new terminology in use, the FAA is offering a online safety course (which qualifies for WING's credit for pilots) on the new terminology. The course can be found here and is offered free of charge.
You can also listen to the live streaming audio of any of the major airport tower frequencies at LiveATC.net. A good tower for hearing the terminology in regular use would be JFK Airport (JFK) in New York. The audio feed can be found here. Just scroll to tower and select either the Java, Flash or MP3 formats.
For background on the change, and to read more, see our prior article on 'Line Up and Wait.'
Comments