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To: Ciaphas Cain

They shouldn’t have done this. There is no frequency for small talk except fingers. And even with fingers, 123.45, commercial airline pilots rarely chat on radio frequencies; they focus on Air Traffic Control (ATC) instructions and converse with each other inside the flight deck.
And even fingers has other uses like being officially designated for oceanic air-to-air communications. If they are doing their job shouldn’t be playing on the radio.

wy69


2 posted on 09/19/2026 10:51:09 PM PDT by whitney69
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To: whitney69
In aviation communications parlance, what is "fingers"? I've never heard that term before.

(I could google it but some things I'd much rather get the info from real people who know their stuff :-)

3 posted on 09/19/2026 10:57:11 PM PDT by Ciaphas Cain
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To: whitney69

Is the policy against this kind of small talk mainly a security issue or an example of low quality professionalism?
I’m just asking. I see a cute, heartwarming story that very few Dads could ever share with their adult child, even less often if that adult child is a young woman Air Captain, but maybe others with ‘Air Experience’ share your reaction.


4 posted on 09/19/2026 11:00:48 PM PDT by lee martell
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To: whitney69

It was brief. If anything, the non family pilot transmitted the most.


8 posted on 09/20/2026 4:28:42 AM PDT by HollyB
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