Page 20 - June 2020

Why do pilots always start their answer to the question ‘Could a passenger land
a commercial plane if they were talked down by an experienced pilot’ with ‘it’s
unlikely they would be able to figure out how to use the radio’. Why is it so hard?

Here is a “hopefully not literal crash” course in aircraft
radio.

Here is the cockpit of an Airbus A320, one of most used
planes and very simple in terms of controls.

First, you need to be able you find the radio.
Once you find it you need to know how to use it,
the good news here is that most aircraft radios
look similar. You can use this link to learn more
about how it's used. External Service Interphone
Panel

The trigger is your push to talk. Most aircraft have push
to talk somewhere on the controls yoke or stick.
After you know how to use the radio you need to know
what frequencies are being used by ATC. It really doesn't
matter which one specifically as long as it's in range and
used by ATC. 121.500 (guard) is the one I would choose
as all aircraft are supposed to monitor it if they can, and
it is typically used to declare an emergency.

Then figuring out how to use all the rest in order to
navigate to an airport, line up, and land in a relatively
safe way (well survivable way).

Have fun remembering all of this!
Remember I am not a professional pilot and I could get
some things wrong here. If you see something that you
know is the wrong comment or submit an edit request

and I will try my best to keep everything accurate. It's not
my intention to spread false info.