View Full Version : communicating with other aircraft during flight
This incident happened when I was on the flightdeck for a short visit (in the good old days when visits were allowed). Anyway, we were at FL 340 and there was another aircraft at FL 390. The First Officer was trying to contact ATC but had the frequency wrong and the Capt. Suggested that he just ask the aircraft above - which they did.
Is there a specific frequency that one can use to communicate with other aircraft in the area. Or is it just the common frequency for the area - which all others are using at the time.
(Sorry if the question is a little vague).
Overseasaviator
8th Feb 2003, 22:38
shon7, may I offer my answer to your question?
It is the normal practice to have one radio on 121.50 to listen out for any distress calls and, if there is a spare radio, to have it tuned to 123.45 which is now the common air to air frequency. It is not unknown for the crew of one aircaraft to call another on 121.50 and request a transfer to 123.45 to discuss a matter such as you experienced. The correct option would be to call on 123.45 initially to make contact.
May be some help? I hope so!
OTOH, some of the guys on the NA tracks just can't keep quiet (yes, yanks especially)....some of 'em remind me of the mid-western politician, Hubert Humphery...walked away and left his mouth running.
FlyingForFun
10th Feb 2003, 09:04
Non-airliner-pilot sticking his head in here, so I hope I'm not completely wrong. However, I don't believe 123.45 is an official international air-to-air frequency. In fact, I'm told that it's actually allocated for use by some UK airfields, and that pilots flying around the UK using this frequency for air-to-air can cause problems. (Sorry, don't know which airfields - can anyone confirm this with details of actual airfields?)
Having said that, it is allocated as an air-to-air frequency in some airspace, such as the North Atlantic, and it does seem to be widely (and illegally) used even where it's not specifically allocated as such.
FFF
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Check 6
10th Feb 2003, 11:02
FFF, you are correct. 123.45 is only authorized for use in Oceanic Airspace. It is indeed allocated for various uses depending on the country.
In the U.S.A., it is allocated for flight test purposes.
;) ;)
eyeinthesky
10th Feb 2003, 13:38
There are two other things to consider:
1) The airways maps have tables on them which give the controlling authority and contact frequency for every airway/UAR, divided sometimes between reporting points, so reference to that is another way to find out the frequency.
2) It is good practice to leave the previous frequency selected in the other side of the flip flop or on the other radio (if you have one). If you have problems with the new frequency you can go back to the old one to confirm you have the correct numbers or ask them to call the next centre or sector on the phone to see if they can hear you or get another frequency.
Using other aircraft to find it out is not really a good idea, as sometimes in vertically split sectors he might be on a different frequency to the one you need. It's a bit like not bothering with navigation; you just follow him!