Pre-brief
Aircraft: Airbus A320
Callsign: Swiss 621
Route: London Heathrow (EGLL) to Geneva (LSGG)
Current state: On final approach to runway 22 at Geneva, descending through 1,500 feet in gusty conditions. The Captain is the Pilot Flying; you are working the radio. Just as you continue the approach, the tower passes a windshear warning.
Souls on board: 150
Your role: First Officer, working the radio (Pilot Monitoring)
Before you listen, predict the first call you will need to make when the tower reports windshear, and what the controller will need from you afterwards; then listen to check.
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.
Useful language. This is a non-routine call, so you will mix standard phraseology with plain English. You will need to: act and report (going around, windshear); read back the missed-approach climb, heading and frequency; request and negotiate (ask to wait for the windshear to ease; request delaying vectors); and confirm or clarify (confirm you can accept another approach; state whether you need your alternate). If a word will not come, describe it (“the wind that suddenly drops…”) or say “we have a problem with…” and keep going — clarity beats the perfect word.
Comprehension questions
What did the controller report on final approach?
Geneva Tower reported windshear on final with the wind 240 degrees, 25 knots gusting 35 — a performance-reversing hazard on approach.
After the crew went around, what did the controller instruct?
The tower gave the missed-approach climb to 4,000 feet on heading 220 and handed the flight to Geneva Approach on 129.1.
What did the crew request instead of an immediate second approach?
The crew asked to wait for the windshear to ease and requested delaying vectors, rather than rushing into a second approach in the same conditions.
Why did the crew go around rather than continue the landing?
Low-level windshear is performance-reversing — a headwind can become a tailwind, robbing the aircraft of lift on short final. Going around and waiting for it to ease is the correct, conservative response; the crew, not the controller, made the call.
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 altitude, the heading, the frequency, the QNH, the callsign last) and mark anything you dropped. Listen again and notice how the crew reports the go-around in the standard order, and how it answers a two-part question with affirm and negative. And listen to how the model pilot’s voice falls at the end of each read-back — a finished transmission — and stays crisp and even on the numbers; now say it the same way.
Controller: Swiss 621, Geneva Tower. Windshear reported on final, wind 240 degrees, 25 knots, gusting 35 knots.
Instructor cue: The reported wind is dangerous for landing. Tell the controller you are going around because of the windshear.
Pilot (model response): Going around, windshear, Swiss 621.
Why it works: A short, immediate call: the standard “going around” with the reason (windshear) and the callsign — so the controller knows at once that the approach is discontinued and why.
Controller: Swiss 621, roger. Climb to 4,000 feet, fly heading 220. Contact Geneva Approach 129.1.
Instructor cue: Read back your climb altitude, the heading, and the new frequency for Geneva Approach.
Pilot (model response): Climbing 4,000 feet, heading 220, Geneva Approach 129.1, Swiss 621.
Why it works: Reads back all three items the controller issued — the climb altitude, the heading and the frequency — with the callsign last; nothing dropped.
Controller: Swiss 621, Geneva Approach, radar contact, climbing 4,000 feet. Say your intentions.
Instructor cue: Tell the controller you would like to wait for the windshear to ease before trying the approach again, and request delaying vectors.
Pilot (model response): We would like to wait for the windshear to ease before another approach. Request delaying vectors, Swiss 621.
Why it works: States the intention (wait for conditions to improve) and the concrete request (delaying vectors), so the controller can plan the re-sequence — the crew, not the controller, decides it is unsafe to try again straight away.
Controller: Swiss 621, roger. Turn left heading 180 for delaying vectors, maintain 4,000 feet, QNH 1015. Expect approximately 10 minutes delay.
Instructor cue: Read back the heading, the altitude, and the QNH.
Pilot (model response): Left heading 180, maintaining 4,000 feet, QNH 1015, Swiss 621.
Why it works: A clean read-back of the vector, the altitude to maintain and the QNH, with the callsign last.
Controller: Swiss 621, confirm you can accept another approach to runway 22 when the windshear eases, or do you require your alternate?
Instructor cue: Confirm you can accept another approach to runway 22 once the windshear eases, and that you do not need your alternate yet.
Pilot (model response): Affirm, we can accept another approach to runway 22 when the windshear eases. Negative alternate at this time, Swiss 621.
Why it works: Answers the controller’s two-part question directly — affirm for another approach, negative for the alternate — using the standard words rather than “yes/no”, with the callsign last.
| Term | Definition / note |
|---|---|
| windshear (noun) | A sudden change in wind speed or direction; near the ground it can turn a headwind into a tailwind and rob the aircraft of lift on approach. |
| going around (call) | The standard call to discontinue an approach and climb away; often given with the reason (“going around, windshear”). |
| missed approach (phrase) | The published or instructed climb-out flown after a go-around — here, climb to 4,000 feet on heading 220. |
| delaying vectors (phrase) | Headings given by ATC to use up time, so the crew can wait for conditions to improve before another approach. |
| say your intentions (phrase) | The controller’s request for the crew to state what they want to do next. |
| affirm / negative (phrase) | The standard radio words for “yes” and “no” — clearer than the everyday words over a noisy frequency. |
| QNH (noun) | The pressure setting that makes the altimeter read height above mean sea level; read back when issued (“QNH 1015”). |
| alternate (noun) | The back-up airport the crew can divert to if they cannot land at the destination. |
Variation prompt
How else could you have responded? What would change if the windshear had hit you on short final — an actual airspeed loss with the stall warning — rather than being reported in advance, and how would your first call be different?
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 (4,000, 220, 129.1, 1015) and the callsign clear?
- Structure — were my transmissions complete and in the right order (act first — “going around” — then read back, then request)?
- Vocabulary — did I have the words (windshear, going around, delaying vectors, affirm/negative), and could I paraphrase if one would not come?
- Fluency — did I get each reply out inside the eight seconds without long stalls?
- Comprehension — did I respond to what the controller actually said, including the two-part question at the end?
- Interactions — did I report the go-around at once, read back fully, request the delay clearly, and answer with affirm/negative and the callsign last — like the model pilot?
Level
Level: CEFR B2 / ICAO Level 5
Want to read about a real gusty-wind landing accident? See our news article: All 80 Survive After Delta Flight Overturns at Toronto.