Congested Frequency & Readback Correction

What this scenario covers

1. Exchange 1

   The frequency is busy. Make a SHORT initial call — just the station and your full callsign — and wait to be invited to pass your message. Do not pass your details yet.

   💡 On a congested frequency the initial call is just the station and your callsign. Dumping your full request before the controller is ready risks being stepped on and having to repeat everything — wait for "pass your message".

2. Exchange 2

   ATC: “Golf Golf Hotel, Farnborough Radar, pass your message.”

   The controller is ready. Pass your message: aircraft type, position (overhead Fairoaks), altitude (two thousand feet) and your request (Basic Service).

   💡 Once invited to "pass your message", give the standard package in order — type, position, level, request — concisely. The controller now has a slot free for you, so make it count without waffle.

3. Exchange 3

   ATC: “Golf Golf Hotel, Farnborough Radar, Basic Service, squawk [blocked by another transmission] ...”

   Another aircraft stepped on the controller and you did not get the squawk. Ask them to say again.

   💡 When a transmission is blocked or garbled, the standard request is "say again" — never "repeat" (which has a specific, different meaning in some services) or casual phrases like "come again". You can also ask for "say again all after..." to pin down just the missing part.

4. Exchange 4

   ATC: “Golf Golf Hotel, Farnborough Radar, negative, I say again, squawk four five six seven.”

   You read the squawk back as four five six EIGHT and the controller has corrected you. Read back the correct squawk they just passed.

   💡 When ATC says "negative, I say again", they are correcting your readback — do not argue or restate your wrong figure. Simply read back the corrected value clearly so the controller knows the right number is now set.

5. Exchange 5

   ATC: “Golf Golf Hotel, Farnborough Radar, Farnborough QNH one zero zero five.”

   You begin reading back QNH one zero zero four, then realise it is actually one zero zero five. Use "correction" to fix your own readback.

   💡 If you catch your own mistake mid-transmission, say "correction" and then give the right value. It is the standard way to cancel an error cleanly — far better than an "er, no, I meant..." that leaves the controller unsure which figure is final.