A discussion on perceptions

**illilli** · 04-27-2006, 10:36 AM

Do you guys have pilot licenses or something? OR, am I just a dumbass and don't know things that are common knowledge?
I didn't fly planes or have anything to with planes while in the Air Force.

HEY! I can hear what you are thinking!

Dumbass over and out....

bigpoppapuff · 04-27-2006, 10:48 AM

if not mistaken,shelby owned a flight school....

**Shelby07** · 04-27-2006, 11:20 AM

Yes. Just having a little fun with the lingo.

A transponder code is used to identify your aircraft to air traffic control that the pilot sets into his/her radio. It is a unique 4 digit code that ATC assigns to you at the beginning of each flight so they know who you are on their radar screen. These numbers show up for your aircraft on ATC's radar next to your blip. However, some have special meaning....

7500 - I am being hijacked
7600 - Lost 2 way communication (radios)
7700 - Declared emergency

Punching any one of these three codes in will cause all sorts of bells, whistles and lights to go off on ATC's consoles.

There is also a separate mode that you set which will transmit your altitude to ATC in addition to your squak code. If they want you to turn this mode on, they will ask you to "squak altitude." ATC asked this guy to do so, and since he was going thru 7500 feet, he thought they wanted him to punch in his actual altitude. Bad form!

**mauied1101** · 04-27-2006, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by Shelby07

7500 - I am being hijacked
7600 - Lost 2 way communication (radios)
7700 - Declared emergency

Punching any one of these three codes in will cause all sorts of bells, whistles and lights to go off on ATC's consoles.

I know everyone here is just talkin' and has nothing to do with it, but being in DC on 9/11 and worrying about folks in NY at the time, with the publicity of the 9/11 movie coming out, this text just hits me kinda not-so-good timing. I dunno, mebbe I'm being a little sensitive or reading this wrong, but I just keep seeing "7500 - I am being hijacked" and "7700 - Declared emergency" and it just reminds me of things and gets me in the dumps.

Sorry guys... I know y'all weren't thinking about it, but this was probably lingo that I could have probably lived without knowing...

**Shelby07** · 04-27-2006, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by mauied1101

I know everyone here is just talkin' and has nothing to do with it, but being in DC on 9/11 and worrying about folks in NY at the time, with the publicity of the 9/11 movie coming out, this text just hits me kinda not-so-good timing. I dunno, mebbe I'm being a little sensitive or reading this wrong, but I just keep seeing "7500 - I am being hijacked" and "7700 - Declared emergency" and it just reminds me of things and gets me in the dumps.

Sorry guys... I know y'all weren't thinking about it, but this was probably lingo that I could have probably lived without knowing...

Oh, boy! You ain't kidding. That's something that will always be engraved in eveyone's mind, especially mine since I was heavily into aviation at the time. However, those squak codes have helped a bunch of people get out of some pretty hairy situations over the years. The problem is we just don't hear about it when the outcome is good, or if we hear about someone surviving a forced landing we don't hear about the procedures and safeguards built into the system that help. I've been a pilot for a long time, and because I was in the business for a while, I have heard of several people who were located quickly after a forced landing partly because they were being tracked on radar and easily identifiable. Surprisingly, it's not the landing that gets people most of the time, it's the exposure to elements and delays in finding them. These procedures have helped to avert a lot of tragedy.

If you think about it in those terms it might help.