International Phonetic Alphabet

The International Phonetic Alphabet is a list of words used to identify letters and numbers in a message transmitted by radio. Letter and numeral pronunciation can be so easily misunderstood (such as hearing an "S" for an "F;" or a "B" for a "D"). Because of that, letters and numerals in aviation are spoken using the International Phonetic Alphabet. This alphabet substitutes an entire word to represent one letter. The first letter of the word is the letter of the alphabet it represents. It would be difficult to confuse "Sierra" (the letter "S") for the letter "F" (said as "Foxtrot").

Alphabet

A - Alpha ( al - fah)
B - Bravo (brah - voh)
C - Charlie (char - lee)
D - Delta (dell - tah)
E - Echo (eck - oh)
F - Foxtrot (foks - trot)
G - Golf (golf)
H - Hotel (hoh - tell)
I - India (in - dee - ah)
J - Juliet (jew - lee- ett)
K - Kilo (key - loh)
L - Lima (lee - mah)
M - Mike (mike)
N - November (no -vem - ber)
O - Oscar (oss - car)
P - Papa (pah - pah)
Q - Quebec (keh - beck)
R - Romeo (roh - me - oh)
S - Sierra (see - air - ah)
T - Tango (tang - go)
U - Uniform (you - nee - form)
V - Victor (vik - tor)
W - Whiskey (wiss - key)
X - X ray (ecks - ray);
Y - Yankee (yang - key)
Z - Zulu (zoo - loo)

Example of this:

Charlie Alpha Papa Tango Alpha India November = CAPTAIN

Numbers

0 - (zee - ro)
1 - (wun)
2 - (too)
3 - (three)
4 - (fow - er)
5 - (five)
6 - (six)
7 - (sev - en)
8 - (ait)
9 - (ni - ner)

All numbers, except for whole thousands, should be transmitted by pronouncing each digit separately. Whole thousands should be transmitted by pronouncing each digit in the number of thousands, followed by the word "Thousand".

Examples of this:

50       - Becomes Five Zero
100     - Becomes One Zero Zero
4500   - Becomes Four Five Zero Zero
15000 - Becomes One Five Thousand
25009 - Becomes Two Five Zero Zero Nine

When the number contains a decimal point is should be transmitted as indicated above with the decimal point indicated by the word "Decimal".

Example of this:

178.9 - Becomes One Seven Eight Decimal Nine

When dealing with a channel number it should be transmitted across the radio with the word "Channel" followed by each digit pronounced separately.

Example of this:

Channel 16 - Becomes Channel One Six

Monetary denominations should be transmitted over the radio in the manor in which they are written.

Example of this:

.50 - Becomes Five Zero Cents
$15.25 - Becomes Dollars One Five Decimal Two Five

Normally questions requiring a "yes" or "no" answer are answered using yes and no. However, in aviation the answers are "affirmative" for yes and "negative" for no.