Recently in my duties as an air traffic controller, I’ve noticed a trend: more than a few pilots struggle with non-towered airport procedures. Unfortunately, I’m not talking about a student pilot on his first-ever instrument flight. In that scenario, fumbles are expected.
Instead, I’m talking about pilots flying jets and turboprops who—I suspect—could be inexperienced or rusty with the phraseology. They might fly to 99 towered airports, and suddenly flight 100 takes them to a non-towered field, leaving them out of their comfort zone. Let’s review some of the verbiage that commonly leaves folks askew.
