Flight Operations Briefing Notes

Standard Operating Procedures

Standard Calls

Flight Operations Briefing Notes

Standard Operating Procedures
Standard Calls

Introduction
Standard phraseology is essential to ensure effective crew communication, particularly
in todays operating environment, which increasingly features:

Two-crewmember operation; and,

International and worldwide contexts involving crewmembers with different native

languages.

Standard calls are intended and designed to enhance the efficiency of crew coordination
and update the flightcrew situational awareness (e.g., including aircraft position,
altitude, speed, status and operation of aircraft systems, ).
Standard calls may vary among:

II

Aircraft models, based upon flightdeck design and systems interfaces; or,

Airlines, to suit their operating philosophy (SOPs).

Statistical Data
Insufficient horizontal or vertical situational awareness or inadequate understanding
of prevailing conditions is a causal factor in more than 50 % of approach-and-landing
accidents (Source Flight Safety Foundation 1998-1999).

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Flight Operations Briefing Notes

III

Standard Operating Procedures

Standard Calls

Use of Standard Calls

Standard calls should be defined to be alerting, in order to be :

Clearly identified by the PF or PNF; and,

Distinguished from other intra-cockpit or ATC communications.

Use of standard calls and acknowledgements reduces the risk of tactical (short-term)
decision making errors (e.g., in selecting modes, setting targets or selecting aircraft
configurations).
The importance of using standard calls increases with increasing workload or flight
phase criticality.
Standard calls must convey the required information with a minimum of words that
have the exact same meaning for all crew members.
Standard calls should be practical, concise, unambiguous and consistent with
the aircraft design and operating philosophy.
Standard calls should be included in the flow sequence of company SOPs
(or summarized at the end of the SOPs) and should be illustrated in the Flight Patterns
published in the company AOM or QRH (as applicable).
Command and response calls should be performed in accordance with the defined
PF / PNF task sharing (i.e., task sharing for hand flying and for autopilot operation, task
sharing for normal operation and for abnormal / emergency condition).
Nevertheless, if a call is omitted by one crewmember, the other crewmember should
perform the call, per good crew resource management (CRM) practice.
The other crewmember should accomplish the
the requested condition and respond accordingly.

requested

command

or

verify

Standard calls may be generated automatically by aircraft systems (i.e., auto callouts)
using synthetic voice messages (e.g., radio-altimeter callouts, GPWS/TAWS alert
messages, reactive or predictive windshear alert messages, ).
In the absence of such auto callouts (i.e., due a system malfunction), the PNF should
make verbally the appropriate standard call.

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Standard Operating Procedures

Flight Operations Briefing Notes

The absence of a standard

of acknowledgement may :

call

at

the

Standard Calls

appropriate

time

or

Result in a loss of situational awareness for the other crewmember;

Be an indication of a system or indication malfunction; or,

Indicate a possible incapacitation of the other crewmember.

the

absence

Standard calls are used to:

IV

Give a command (i.e., task delegation) or transfer an information;

Acknowledge a command or an information transfer;

Give a response or ask a question (i.e., feedback);

Callout a change of indication (e.g., a mode transition or reversion); or,

Identify a specific event (e.g., crossing an altitude or a flight level).

Defining Generic Standard Calls

The following generic standard calls often are used to express a command or response:

Check (or Verify):

Checked:

a command for the other pilot to set a target value or a configuration;

Arm:

a call (response) confirming that an information has been checked at both pilot
stations;

Set:

a confirmation that an item has been checked;

Cross-check(ed):

a command for the other pilot to check an item;

a command for the other pilot to arm an AP/FD mode (or to arm a system);

Engage:

a command for the other pilot to engage an AP/FD mode (or to engage
a system);

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Flight Operations Briefing Notes

Standard Operating Procedures

Standard Calls

ON / OFF:

ON or OFF following the name of a system is either:

- a command for the other pilot to select / deselect the related system; or,
- a response confirming the status of the system.

Specific Standard Calls

Appropriate standard calls should be defined, based on instrument indications
or observation of cockpit effects, for the following events:

Flightcrew/ground mechanics communications;

Engine start sequence;

Trust setting;

Specific event-markers along the takeoff phase;

Landing gear and slats/flaps selection (retraction or extension);

Initiation, interruption, resumption and completion of normal checklists;

Initiation, sequencing, interruption, resumption and completion of abnormal and

emergency checklists (paper or electronic checklist);

Autopilot or flight director engagement (i.e., FMA annunciation);

Mode engagement (i.e., FMA annunciation);

Mode transitions and reversions (i.e., FMA changes);

Target selections confirmation (i.e., on PFD and/or ND scales);

Capture phases (e.g., navigation leg, radial, localizer, glide-slope, );

Changing the altimeter setting;

Approaching the cleared altitude or FL;

TCAS / TA or RA events;

PF/PNF transfer of controls;

Specific points / targets along the instrument approach procedure;

Excessive-deviation from a nominal flight parameter;

Unstabilized approach when reaching the applicable stabilization

if becoming destabilized below the applicable stabilization height;

Approaching and reaching minimums;

Acquisition of visual references;

Loss of visual references;

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height

or

Flight Operations Briefing Notes

Landing or go-around decision; and,

Specific event-markers during the landing roll.

Standard Operating Procedures

Standard Calls

Use of standard calls is of paramount importance for optimum use of automation

(i.e., for awareness of arming or engagement of modes by calling FMA changes, target
selections, FMS entries, ) :

The standard calls should trigger immediately the question what do I want to fly
now? , and thus clearly indicates :

which mode the pilot wishes to arm or engage; and/or,

which target the pilot wishes to set.

When the pilots (PF) intention is clearly transmitted to the other pilot (PNF),
the standard call will also:

facilitate the cross-check of the FMA and PFD/ND, as applicable; and,

facilitate the cross-check and backup between both pilots.

Standard calls should be defined for cockpit crew / cabin crew communications in both:

VI

Normal conditions (departure and arrival); and,

Abnormal or emergency situations (e.g., cabin depressurization, on-ground

emergency / evacuation, crew incapacitation, forced landing or ditching, etc).

Harmonization of Standard Calls

The harmonization of standard calls across various aircraft fleets (from the same
or from different aircraft manufacturers) is desirable but should not be an overriding
demand.
Standard calls across fleets are only essential for crewmembers operating different
fleets (i.e., for communications between cockpit and cabin or between cockpit and
ground).
Within the cockpit, pilots need to use standard calls appropriate for the flightdeck and
systems design.
With the exception of aircraft models with cockpit commonality, cockpit layouts and
systems are not the same and, thus, similarities as well as differences should be
recognized alike.
When defining standard calls, standardization and operational efficiency should be
balanced carefully.

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Flight Operations Briefing Notes

VII

Standard Operating Procedures

Standard Calls

Summary of Key Points

Standard Calls ensure effective crew interaction and communication.
The Call / Command and the Response / Acknowledgement are of equal importance
to guarantee a timely action or correction.

VIII

Associated Briefing Notes

The following Briefing Notes can be reviewed along with the above information in order
to expand a particular topic:

IX

Operating Philosophy SOPs,

Optimum Use of Automation,

Operations Golden Rules,

Use of Normal Checklists,

Effective Pilot / Controller Communications,

Intra-cockpit Communications - Managing Interruptions and Distractions.

Regulatory references

ICAO Annex 6 Operation of Aircraft, Part I International Commercial Air

transport Aeroplanes, Appendix 2, 5.13.

ICAO Preparation of an Operations Manual (Doc 9376).

JAR-OPS 1.1045 and associated Appendix 1 Operations Manuals structure and

contents.

Other References

U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Special Report NTSB-AAS-76-5

Special Study: Flightcrew Coordination Procedures in Air Carrier Instrument
Landing System Approach Accidents.

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Flight Operations Briefing Notes

Standard Operating Procedures

Standard Calls

This Flight Operations Briefing Note (FOBN) has been developed by Airbus in the frame of the Approach-and-Landing
Accident Reduction (ALAR) international task force led by the Flight Safety Foundation.
This FOBN is part of a set of Flight Operations Briefing Notes that provide an overview of the applicable standards,
flying techniques and best practices, operational and human factors, suggested company prevention strategies and personal
lines-of-defense related to major threats and hazards to flight operations safety.
This FOBN is intended to enhance the reader's flight safety awareness but it shall not supersede the applicable regulations
and the Airbus or airline's operational documentation; should any deviation appear between this FOBN and the Airbus or
airlines AFM / (M)MEL / FCOM / QRH / FCTM, the latter shall prevail at all times.
In the interest of aviation safety, this FOBN may be reproduced in whole or in part - in all media - or translated; any use of
this FOBN shall not modify its contents or alter an excerpt from its original context. Any commercial use is strictly excluded.
All uses shall credit Airbus and the Flight Safety Foundation.
Airbus shall have no liability or responsibility for the use of this FOBN, the correctness of the duplication, adaptation or
translation and for the updating and revision of any duplicated version.

Airbus Customer Services

Flight Operations Support and Line Assistance
1 Rond Point Maurice Bellonte - 31707 BLAGNAC CEDEX FRANCE
FOBN Reference : FLT_OPS SOP - SEQ04 - REV03 MAR. 2004

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