Subchapter 10.5 – Common Readback Errors and Exam Traps

The Trap: Altitudes can be confused: feet vs. flight levels, decimal points in altitudes, leading zeros.

Examples:

Wrong: "Climb to one-one-zero" (sounds like 110 feet, but means FL 110) Correct: "Climb to flight level one-one-zero"

Wrong: "Descend to three-thousand" Correct: "Descend to three-thousand feet" (or simply "three thousand")

Wrong: "QNH one-zero-two-zero" Correct: "QNH one-zero-two-zero hectopascals" (though the unit is sometimes implied)

Rule: Always include the unit: "flight level," "feet," "hectopascals." This eliminates ambiguity.