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Listening: Hydraulic Failure on Approach to Manchester

Pre-brief

Aircraft: Airbus A320
Callsign: Easy 23
Route: Amsterdam Schiphol (EHAM) to Manchester (EGCC)
Current state: You are descending through 8,000 feet on the arrival into Manchester when the green hydraulic system fails. The ECAM shows a loss of normal landing gear extension, normal brakes and nose wheel steering. Your co-pilot is working the ECAM and QRH. You are on Manchester Approach.
Souls on board: 156
Endurance: 1 hour 10 minutes remaining
Your role: First Officer, working the radio (Pilot Monitoring)

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Structure: ‘Cleft sentences’

What is a cleft sentence?

A cleft sentence takes a single idea and splits it into two clauses so that one element is thrown into sharp focus. (Cleft simply means “divided.”) Compare the flat statement The redesigned fuel system makes the route possible with the version a journalist might actually write: It is the redesigned fuel system that makes the route possible. The facts are identical; the second sentence just decides what you notice first.

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Picture Description: VIP Flight on the Apron

A government VIP jet parked on a remote apron stand with mobile air stairs, officials in suits, hi-vis ground crew, a baggage cart and a waiting black limousine under a hazy sky

Describe the picture

Look at the photograph above and describe what you can see. Try to speak for about a minute, moving from a general overview of the scene, to the details, and finally to speculation about what is happening and why. Use the words in the box to help you. If you are not sure how to structure your answer, read our guide on how to describe a picture.

dispersal · air stair · APU · ground crew · baggage · visibility

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Qantas A350 Completes First Project Sunrise Test Flight

A Qantas Airbus A350-1000 climbing into a golden sunset sky shortly after takeoff

Qantas has edged closer to operating the longest commercial flights in the world. On 2 June 2026, the first Airbus A350-1000ULR built for the airline’s “Project Sunrise” took off from Toulouse on its maiden flight, an event that marks the beginning of the end of a programme the carrier has been pursuing for the better part of a decade.
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Listening: Tail-Skid Contact on Departure from Bangkok

How to do this dictation

Listen to the audio recording and write down everything you hear. You can play the audio as many times as you like. When you are finished, check your work against the transcript and the answer key below.

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Listening: Volcanic Ash Encounter near Bali

You’re going to hear about something that happened to an airliner during a night flight over Indonesia. Listen carefully for what the crew noticed first, what they decided the problem was, and how they dealt with it.

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