Quote from
oggers:
..then ATC will see that the wrong a/c is identing because it will be the wrong code? Whilst it is mandatory in blighty in the US it is not mandatory to read back the code in airborne comms:
"Pilots of airborne aircraft should read back those parts of ATC clearances and instructions containing altitude assignments, vectors, or runway assignments as a means of mutual verification." FAA AIM.
That seems fine if a code has been established earlier. During initial assignment, however, perhaps when coasting in from Oceanic and on the edge of VHF reception (see my
previous post), the ATC instruction to squawk a given code could be picked up by the wrong crew. The absence of a callsign in their acknowledgment would hide the error. Unless I'm missing something, squawking ident would not reveal the problem.