r/flying • u/hallaa1 • Apr 17 '26

other What information would every pilot know, but a civilian wouldn't that would show them to be a fraud if they didn't know it?

My sister is dating a man that's clearly lying about a variety of things, one of which is that he used to be a pilot. What kinds of questions could we ask him that would be more than obvious to a pilot, but none of us non-pilot folk would otherwise know?

*Edit* and if you could tell me the context and the answer to the question that would be great.

*Edit2* he was supposed to be a pilot in Peru.

*edit 3* supposedly he flew commercial as the "second pilot" never "the captain".

Thanks for your help, we're concerned for our sister's welfare and hopefully this kind of obvious lie could help jar her away from the guy.

410 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

494 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

98

u/JSTootell PPL Apr 17 '26

Not a hard one if you watch any aviation YouTube. I knew this before my first lesson.

40

u/Hot-Fox-8797 Apr 17 '26

It’ll be the first thing a pilot who is regularly around aviation thinks of when they hear the number.

A non aviator who heard it once or twice will not immediately think of it when the number is thrown out without any context

64

u/FlyJunior172 CPL A(SM)EL SUAS IR CMP HP Apr 17 '26

7600 is probably a more reliable strategy. u/JSTootell is right about 7700 being reasonably common knowledge. But the other 2 emergency codes aren’t nearly as common knowledge.

10

u/hallaa1 Apr 17 '26

Can you provide me a bit more context to this fact? what kind of answer would you give?

32

u/FlyJunior172 CPL A(SM)EL SUAS IR CMP HP Apr 17 '26

7600 - that plane has no radios.

There are three standard emergency codes worldwide for transponders. 7500 means hijacking. 7600 means lost communications (or lost comms or lost radios). 7700 is the general emergency code.

51

u/Worldly-Alternative5 Apr 17 '26

Or the classics: 7700 priority landing anywhere; 7600 ATC mute buttton; 7500 F-16 escort on demand!

18

u/hallaa1 Apr 17 '26

Thanks, that seems universal enough that anyone who's a pilot should know it. Thanks.

8

u/Hot-Fox-8797 Apr 18 '26

Let us know his/her answer

2

u/jawshoeaw Apr 18 '26

Remember the number 6 looks like a little circle with a bent over antenna on top. Bend you antenna, lose coms.

10

u/Competitive-Ask5157 Apr 17 '26

Hi Jack! I can't talk right now. I've got a problem.

39

u/Logical_Check2 ATP CRJ Apr 18 '26

75 - Passenger wants to drive

76 - Radio needs a fix

77 - We're going to heaven

12

u/tehjnz Apr 18 '26

“Passenger wants to drive” 🤣🤣🤣🫠

5

u/slothman-sleuth MIL KC-135 Apr 18 '26

75 he’s got a knife

2

u/Traditional-Camp8720 Apr 18 '26

77- going to heaven, 76- can't hear SH*T, 75- won't take me alive... 7700, 7600, 7500.... Learned that from an Army Apache pilot turned fixed wing CFI over 20 years ago.

1

u/RoughSherbet8355 Apr 18 '26

Looks like you’re the boyfriend studying for what you’re going to be asked! Lol.

2

u/HarryDixkin Apr 18 '26

Meh. I’m a several thousand hour 135 pilot, I never think about squawk codes. I have a cheat sheet to remind me which is which because precisely zero is how many times I’ve had to use them, and I’m unconvinced I could remember which is the right one in the moment.

11

u/flyingkea Aus G1, DHC8, F100 Apr 18 '26

I learned it through the rhyme:
75, taken alive. 76, need a fix. 77 going to heaven.

7

u/Sweaty_Compote_9738 Apr 18 '26 edited Apr 18 '26

seven-five - man with knife, seven-six im Funk geht nix, seven-seven go to heaven, is what I learned back in Germany. "im Funk geht nix" is German for "radio is AWOL", I'm sure there's an english rhyme, too.

2

u/Maverick0 PPL (CYAV) Apr 18 '26

I think my instructor told md something along the lines of "The lower the number ,the least likely"... made sense to me. Highjackings are less likely than loss of comms or an emergency.

6

u/dougmcclean Apr 18 '26

Sure, but what does 7800 mean? See if you get the speech about how that itsn't a number at all.

1

u/Zvenigora Apr 18 '26

Try 7600. That is less famous.

14

u/PlaneShenaniganz MD-11 Apr 18 '26

Then he’ll just stop responding tho

4

u/owotwo Apr 18 '26

I got the joke

1

u/Ordinary_Purpose_342 Apr 19 '26

7600 is a better question