Pre-brief
Aircraft: Airbus A320
Callsign: Austrian 125
Route: Frankfurt (EDDF) to Vienna (LOWW)
Current state: You are in the cruise at flight level 340 in smooth air, under radar control with Munich Radar. The Captain is the Pilot Flying; you are working the radio.
Souls on board: 156
Your role: First Officer, working the radio (Pilot Monitoring)
How this works
How this works. You’re playing the pilot. A instructor will introduce the activity in her own voice, then the controller’s first transmission begins. Every radio transmission — controller or pilot — ends with a short roger beep, the cue that the speaker has finished. After each controller transmission, the instructor gives you an instruction — telling you what information to communicate back to the controller (e.g. read back a clearance, declare an emergency, report your status) — and reminds you that you have eight seconds to respond. Your job is to relay that information to the controller using proper ATC phraseology. Speak your reply aloud — recording yourself on a phone voice memo makes review easier. You’ll then hear one model pilot response against light cabin background — that’s one acceptable phrasing, not the only correct one. Take notes while you listen if it helps.
Comprehension questions
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How did the controller describe the conflicting traffic?
The controller’s first transmission gave traffic at twelve o’clock, 10 miles, opposite direction, indicating the same level.
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What was the controller’s first instruction to the crew?
To resolve the conflict the controller instructed an immediate climb to flight level 360.
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At the end of the exchange, which unit did the controller tell the crew to contact?
Once the conflict was over and the climb resumed, the controller handed the flight to Vienna Radar on 124.5.
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Why did the pilot answer “unable” to the controller’s climb instruction?
When an RA conflicts with an ATC instruction, the crew follows the RA and tells the controller “unable, TCAS RA”.
Transcript & key vocabulary
Before you read each model reply, say your own once more — then notice whether you read back every element the model did (the level, the frequency, the squawk, the callsign last) and mark anything you dropped.
Controller: Austrian 125, Munich Radar. Traffic, twelve o’clock, 10 miles, opposite direction, indicating same level. Climb immediately, flight level 360.
Instructor cue: Your TCAS now tells you to descend, against the controller’s climb. Tell the controller you are unable, and that you are following a TCAS RA.
Pilot (model response): Unable, TCAS RA, Austrian 125.
Why it works: follows the golden rule of a resolution advisory — the crew obeys the RA, not the conflicting ATC climb — and tells the controller at once with the standard phrase “unable, TCAS RA”.
Controller: Austrian 125, roger. Report clear of conflict.
Instructor cue: The conflict is over and you are climbing back to your cruise level. Tell the controller you are clear of conflict and returning to flight level 340.
Pilot (model response): Clear of conflict, returning to flight level 340, Austrian 125.
Why it works: uses the prescribed “clear of conflict” report and states the level the aircraft is returning to, so the controller knows the crew’s vertical intention.
Controller: Austrian 125, roger. The traffic is now clear. Climb to flight level 360, report reaching.
Instructor cue: Read back the new climb level, and that you will report reaching it.
Pilot (model response): Climbing to flight level 360, will report reaching, Austrian 125.
Why it works: reads back the cleared level and acknowledges the “report reaching” instruction, with the callsign last — nothing dropped.
Controller: Austrian 125, contact Vienna Radar 124.5. Good day.
Instructor cue: Read back the new frequency for Vienna Radar.
Pilot (model response): Vienna Radar 124.5, Austrian 125, good day.
Why it works: a concise, correct read-back of the new frequency with the callsign — exactly what a frequency change requires.
| Term | Definition / note |
|---|---|
| TCAS (system) | Traffic Collision Avoidance System — an onboard system that detects nearby aircraft and warns the crew of a possible collision. |
| resolution advisory (RA) (noun) | A TCAS command to climb or descend to avoid a collision. It must be followed, even if it conflicts with an ATC instruction. |
| TCAS RA (call) | The standard report telling the controller the crew is manoeuvring to follow a resolution advisory. |
| clear of conflict (phrase) | The prescribed report that the TCAS conflict is over and the aircraft is returning to its cleared level. |
| traffic information (phrase) | A controller’s description of nearby aircraft — position by clock code, distance, direction and level. |
| opposite direction (phrase) | Traffic flying towards you on a reciprocal track. |
| unable (phrase) | The standard word a pilot uses to decline an instruction that cannot, or must not, be complied with. |
| report reaching (phrase) | An instruction to tell the controller when the aircraft levels off at the assigned level. |
Variation prompt
How else could you have responded? What would change if the controller had instructed you to descend at the same moment your TCAS commanded a climb — and how should you phrase your call once you are clear of conflict?
Practise again
Now play the audio again and say all the pilot replies a second time — more fluently, including every element the model read back. Record both takes and compare. Then close the transcript and the phraseology box, play the audio once more, and make every read-back from memory.
Record your read-backs, play them back, and rate each line — Yes / Almost / Not yet. Then do it again and move one line up.
- Pronunciation — could a listener catch every word; were the numbers (360, 124.5) and the callsign clear?
- Structure — were my transmissions complete and in the right order?
- Vocabulary — did I use the right phraseology (unable, TCAS RA; clear of conflict; report reaching)?
- Fluency — did I get each reply out inside the eight seconds without long stalls?
- Comprehension — did I respond to what the controller actually said?
- Interactions — did I read back fully, put the callsign last, and use unable when the RA overrode ATC — like the model pilot?
Level
Level: CEFR B2 / ICAO Level 5
Want to read about a real mid-air collision? See our news article: 67 Killed in Potomac River Mid-Air Collision.