Dear friends and followers welcome back to my channel today's video will answer a classic question regarding this departure clearance:
Beeline 502 heavy, you're cleared to Brussels. Kennedy One departure, Canarsie Climb, vectors BETTE. Then as filed. SQUAWK 1736.
What is a SQUAWK code and what is it good for, so let's get started.
Air Traffic Control Audio
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Now as you might have watched my previous video about the traffic alert and collision avoidance system.
I mentioned the airplanes transponder a couple of times
We're first going to have to look at the transponder in order to cover the topic about the SQUAWK code later in this video.
So this is what a mode sierra transponder
looks like of the Airbus A320 family.
I'll come back to the different modes in a minute. Now if you take a closer look at the word transponder
you can see it's made up out of two words describing its purpose a
transponder
TRANSmits radio signals and
resPONDs to radio signals.
So the transponders primary purpose is to pick up radio waves sent out by the secondary radar antenna and then
replies by transmitting radio waves back to the antenna, more or less telling the antenna: I'm here.
The transmitted signal is then converted into a blip
indication or a ping which gets displayed on the ATC controller's radar screen.
By the way the upper rotary antenna you see on most airport towers
that's the secondary radar antenna. All nice to know you might say
but what's that got to do with the squawk code?
Now as you get your IFR departure clearance the ATC controller will give you a pre-assigned four decimal code
after acknowledging the clearance you use the little numbered keyboard on your transponder to enter the given code and
depending on your airline or airport procedure you set the transponder to the auto position.
Meaning your transponder is set and ready to transmit the code and that code you've just set is the so called
squawk code.
So as you take off and the transponder comes fully active you turn up on the ATC controllers radar screen
but it won't be just a blip indicating your airplane is in the air it will also show the
four-digit squawk code, your current altitude
plus your callsign. As you are now under radar control the ATC controller can also look up your flight plan.
So he knows where you're flying to the amount of passengers, crew and fuel you have on board and much more.
Now depending on the airplane size and manufacturer the transponder can come in different modes
for instance little Cessnas or smaller aircraft within the general aviation
category don't necessarily need a transponder which transmits the airplanes altitude
therefore a mode Alpha
transponder will do the job, meaning it will only transmit the airplanes position and squawk code.
But be aware the places where you can fly without an altitude-reporting
transponder are becoming less and less. So to be on the safer side your plane has to have a mode
Charlie transponder which transmits the plane's position and its barometric altitude and
squawk code. Obviously they are a little more expensive, but the ATC controllers and other pilots benefit from your investment and
adding a TCAS system to it
you'll feel a whole lot safer when flying around on weekends where the airspace is packed with
Weekend Warriors, and as just shown before a mode Sierra transponder
which is above all other transponder modes and can also be used for data link messaging, but again
that's a whole another video.
But please be aware there are many rules and regulations which apply when it comes to having the right
transponder for the right airplane
depending on its weight, which airspace it's flying in and country you're flying across. Trust me
it is not that simple. To give you an idea commercial airliners and private jets for example have to be fitted with a mode
Sierra transponder in order to comply with RVSM regulations, reduced vertical separation minimum,
and to work in cooperation with the TCAS system, again another whole video about the RVSM right there.
Today's airliners very often have a transponder and a TCAS as one unit within the cockpit which is then
interconnected with various computers and systems to display the intruders on the navigation display and
to give the respective aural warnings. Now during your flight training you're most certainly going to come across this clearance by ATC
(ATC recording) 44G (callsign) radar service terminated squawk VFR frequency exchange approved
So what's all this.
Now let's imagine you have been flying in IFR weather, but the weather has improved
and you're ready to cancel your IFR flight plan and you want to continue
visually to your destination now after canceling your IFR flight the ATC control is letting you know that the
radar service is terminated, you are then no longer on his watch and have to navigate by yourself
but he wants you to change your squawk code to
VFR.
And that's a preset code. Now for all my aviators from the US that squawk code is
1 2 0 0 and the equivalent for my European fliers is 7 0 0 0.
So as soon as you change your transponder dials to the VFR squawk code you'll still be visible on his radar screen
but you can't expect any service from him as he also said:
frequency change approved,
meaning you can switch over to flight information service in case you need any help with traffic information
or issues like which runway is active at your destination.
But there are three preset codes which are known worldwide which definitely get the ATC controllers
attention once you dial them in.
I'll give you a rhyme to memorize them a little easier 'cause these are commonly
asked in your theory exams. If your plane gets hijacked by terrorists or people with similar interests you would squawk
7 5 0 0, that will cause for numerous alerts down at the ATC office, which will lead to further actions which I'm not going to mention
right here. But the easiest way of memorizing
this code is 7 5 man with a knife.
The next one, also not very pleasant, in case you have lost all radio communications.
The only way of letting the radar controller know you can't hear him to follow his orders.
You dial in Squawk code 7 6 0 0, as soon as ATC
notifies your squawk code indicating loss of communications
they will inform all further ATC controllers on your route, like the airport tower for instance who will give you your
landing clearance via light signals. No kidding. So to memorize this one say
7 6 - I need my radio fixed.
The third and last of these famous three is 7 7 0 0.
Indicating that you have an emergency of some sort, requesting immediate attention and assistance by ATC.
So ATC will immediately try to help you by giving you directions towards your nearest airfield and much more.
So to memorize this one by saying
7 7 - I'm falling from heaven.
I hope you enjoyed this video about the squawk code.
I'll make a follow-up video about all the different switches and buttons on the transponder very soon. Thank you very much for your time
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So I'll see you next week, all the best, your captain Joe.
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