Receiving a Clearance

Pilot & Controller Responsibilities

Pilot in command per 14 CFR § 91.3 — final authority and responsibility for the aircraft. Specifically:

• Plan the IFR flight: route, altitudes, fuel, weather, NOTAMs
• File the flight plan with the appropriate ATC facility
• Comply with ATC instructions (or immediately advise inability)
• Maintain navigation accuracy and report deviations promptly
• Conduct approaches per published procedures
• Read back and acknowledge clearances; communicate any doubt

Three ATC facility types you'll work with on an IFR flight:

• Control Tower: Manages the local airport and immediate surrounding airspace. Issues takeoff/landing clearances, ground/airspace transitions, traffic separation in the terminal area.
• TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control): Bridge between airport tower and en route structure. Mostly Class B and C airports; some busy Class D have their own. May be divided by sector. Uses Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR).
• ARTCC (Air Route Traffic Control Center, "Center"): Provides separation between IFR traffic in the en route structure. Divided into large sectors and altitudes (high/low). Frequencies in the back of the chart supplement and on en route charts.

Requesting a Clearance

On the ground: Use Clearance Delivery if available. Otherwise Ground Control. At a non-towered airport, FSS (Flight Service) or call-out via the published clearance phone number in the chart supplement.

Standard request: "[Facility] Clearance, [Callsign] is at [Location] with information [ATIS letter], IFR to [Destination], ready to copy."

From the air: "[Approach/Center], [Callsign] is at [Location] with IFR request." You'll get either "go ahead with your request" or "standby." Often a squawk code right away so they can establish radar contact.

Radar contact means ATC has identified your aircraft on radar and will provide flight following until terminated. Once in radar contact you stop reporting compulsory reporting points. Radar contact lost means radar service is suspended — you go back to position reports.

The CRAFT Acronym — Parts of a Clearance

ATC delivers clearances in this exact order. Set up your scratchpad with C / R / A / F / T pre-written and check off each as it's read.

• C — Clearance limit: The endpoint of the clearance. Usually but not always your destination airport.
• R — Route: The route ATC has assigned. Often what you filed, sometimes amended. "Cleared as filed" shortcuts this when nothing changed.
• A — Altitude: Initial altitude to maintain, plus the time at which to expect cruise altitude clearance ("expect 8,000 in 10 minutes")
• F — Frequency: Departure frequency to tune after takeoff
• T — Transponder code: The squawk code to set before departure. T also stands for Time when a void time is issued.

Five Steps to Receiving a Clearance

1. Copy — write everything down using shorthand. Don't try to interpret as it's read; just transcribe what you hear. If you fall behind, ask for a re-read at a slower pace.
2. Read back — read what you wrote. This confirms recording, not acceptance. Acceptance happens at takeoff.
3. Study — pull out your charts and trace the route end-to-end. Verify it makes sense, that the airways link to the fixes named, and the route actually leads to your destination. Long trips deserve several minutes of checking.
4. Request changes / clarification — if the route is too circuitous or the altitude is in stronger winds, ask. Better to fix it on the ground than carry a confused clearance into IMC.
5. Set up the radios — frequencies, courses, baro, transponder. Do as much as possible on the ground so you're not fiddling at 200 ft AGL transitioning to instruments.

Even after "readback is correct," there's no guarantee the controller heard exactly what you read. If something feels off, ask again.

Inability to Comply

If you cannot comply with a clearance — equipment failure, weather, performance, fuel — tell ATC immediately. Don't accept a clearance you can't fly. The captain has the final authority; using it is part of the job.

Common phrases:

• "Unable due to [reason], request [alternative]."
• "Negative, [reason], request lower altitude."
• "Standby — verifying [chart / weight / fuel]."

Read-Back Standard Phraseology

Always read back:

• Altitude assignments and changes
• Vectored headings
• Altitude restrictions ("at or above," "at or below," "cross at")
• Clearances and clearance limits
• Hold instructions
• Approach clearances (with the cleared approach name and runway)
• Runway assignments, hold-short instructions, taxi clearances
• Frequency changes

Brevity is good — but precision is non-negotiable. "Cleared ILS Runway 16 Right, Helicopter 969MH" is better than "cleared the approach."