Why do you say niner

It would be easy to stop the discussion here, but Aviation English is full of examples of strange pronunciations and oddities. The phonetic alphabet, certain keywords, and phrases are all part of what needs to be learnt when becoming involved in the aviation industry. Aviation English is a key component of minimizing misunderstandings, and we touched on the topic of why much of the phraseology in aviation is done in English in this article.

Numbers are essential for communication and aviation, ranging from altitudes and flight levels, velocities, headings, frequencies and runway directions, weather-related information, etc. The list goes on and on! This is normally vital information and an error can lead to catastrophic consequences for example a pilot may climb or descends to an incorrect level.

Below is a list of how pilots and air traffic controllers pronounce the numbers zero to ten:. Most numbers are pronounced more or less as you would expect, but there are four, maybe five, big exceptions.

The numbers 4 and 7 are the least changed in terms or pronunciation , with just a slight emphasis on the end of the words. The number 9 is the most changed, and the similarly-pronounced 5 is changed as well.

It is amazing how often, in my time as an air traffic controller, pilots and ATCOs will confuse a three with a two and vice-versa, even when pronouncing the words correctly. Two and three is by far the most confused pair of numbers in my 14 years of experience and you would not expect that to be the case. They say Niner instead of just nine so there is no mistake when you say nine. Just like when a word is confirmed spoken one letter at a time using words, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc. That originated with the use of electronic communication.

Radios were not the best and "nine" and "five" sounded the same. So they said "niner" and "fife" to differentiate. More than that. Think Luftwaffe. Radio transmissions may not be crystal clear, and with any disturbances on the frequency, nine could be easily confused with five, given they are one-syllable and rhyme. In many countries outside the US, anybody with stripes in the cockpit is addressed as Captain, Cappie, Commander, Commandante or other honoraria so as not to offend and denote respect.

In the US crews are sometimes called Skycap, but usually not while in the cockpit. These are generally hidden out of view from passengers. If no bunks are available, commercial passenger seats in business or first class are set aside for the pilots to ensure a good standard of rest can be achieved.

When an air traffic controller asks a pilot, during an emergency, for the number of souls on board, it communicates to the pilot that the controller and pilot are focusing extra hard together on solving the emergency successfully, and that one word tells the pilot that the controller is going to be marshalling.

Sierra Hotel or sometimes Hotel Sierra. Angels — Altitude in thousands of feet. Angle of attack — The angle at which an aircraft wings meet the air stream.