Part 4: Helicopter-Specific Radiotelephony

Air Taxi is the helicopter equivalent of "taxi." When you request to air taxi, you're saying: "I'm going to hover and fly low (usually below 50 feet, often lower) to get to my landing spot." Air taxi is used when the helicopter needs to move from the main landing area to a specific location—for example, from the aerodrome helipad to a downtown heliport.

The phraseology is straightforward:

Ground data-aircraft="OE-HEL">

Helicopter Air Taxi Request

Linz Ground · OE-HEL

FREQUENCY: 121.8 MHz

PILOT: Linz Ground, OE-HEL, helicopter, REQUEST air taxi to downtown heliport.

ATC OE-HEL, Linz Ground, air taxi APPROVED. Proceed direct downtown, REPORT at heliport.

PILOT: Air taxi APPROVED, REPORTING at heliport, OE-HEL.

Notice: you announce that you're a helicopter, you specify that it's air taxi (not a normal takeoff), and you state your destination. ATC clears you, and you're authorized to fly low to that destination. You don't need a runway clearance; you don't need to report downwind or base. But you do need to stay in contact or at least report arrival.