InFO 10014: Phraseology change in Air Traffic “Taxi Into Position And Hold” (TIPH) Instruction

Distributed by: AFS-200 OPR: AJT-24

InFOInformation for Operators

U.S. Department InFO 10014

of Transportation DATE: 8/10/10

Federal Aviation

Administration Flight Standards Service

Washington, DC http://www.faa.gov/other_visit/aviation_industry/airline_operators/airline_safety/info An InFO contains valuable information for operators that should help them meet certain administrative, regulatory, or operational requirements with relatively low urgency or impact on safety.

Subject: Phraseology change in Air Traffic “Taxi Into Position And Hold” (TIPH) Instruction

Purpose: To elevate public awareness of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Notice JO 7110.536, Line Up And Wait (LUAW) Operations, dated September 30, 2010 (see InFO 10014SUP). This notice revises FAA Air Traffic Control Order JO 7110.65, by replacing the TIPH phraseology and procedure with LUAW instructions when authorizing an aircraft to TIPH. The audience to whom Notice JO 7110.536 applies is Terminal Services organization and all associated air traffic control facilities.

Background: In FAA directives, an air traffic controller's instruction for a pilot to taxi onto the runway and await takeoff clearance is “position and hold”. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) equivalent of this instruction is “line up and wait”. In July 2000, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended that FAA Order JO 7110.65 be amended to require the use of standard ICAO phraseology for airport surface operations (NTSB Recommendation A-00-71). In addition, the Air Traffic Procedures Advisory Committee has requested the FAA revise U.S. policy to require the use of “line up and wait” rather than “position and hold.”

FAA Runway Safety Call to Action Committee has issued several recommendations to address improving runway safety across the National Airspace System. In response to these recommendations, ATO Terminal Services convened a safety risk management (SRM) panel of subject matter experts to evaluate safety of the committee recommendations. The objective of the SRM panel was to identify and assess the risks associated with changing the current phraseology from “position and hold” to “line up and wait” per NTSB Recommendation A-00-71.

Notice JO 7110.536 established “In accordance with the Runway Safety Call-to-Action Committee recommendations and the Safety Risk Management (SRM) Document dated May 19, 2009, this change replaces all references of “TIPH” with “LUAW”.

Discussion: As stipulated in Notice JO 7110.536 “Line Up And Wait - - Used by ATC to inform a pilot to taxi onto the departure runway to line up and wait. It is not authorization for takeoff. It is used when takeoff clearance cannot immediately be issued.”

Recommended Action: Operators of all aircraft and airport services personnel must be briefed on the conditions and phraseology specified in Notice JO 7110.536.

Contact: Question or comments regarding this InFO should be directed to the Manager, Operations and Procedures Group, AJT-24, (202) 385-8778.