Episodes

  • 24. Mid-Flight Compound Nouns: Three Everyday Expressions

    24. Mid-Flight Compound Nouns: Three Everyday Expressions
    Oct 15 2026
    Episode 24: Mid-Flight Compound Nouns: Three Everyday Expressions

    What happens when a phrasal verb becomes a noun? Discover the pattern behind three familiar Aviation English expressions: level-off, handoff, and readback.
    Explore how these compound nouns work in operational communication and sharpen your language beyond the checklist.

    🎧 Listen, refine your language, and keep learning beyond the checklist.
    ReviseBeforeFlight.com
    Show More Show Less
    7 mins
  • 23. High versus Tall: The Skybound Dictionary

    23. High versus Tall: The Skybound Dictionary
    Sep 30 2026
    High or tall?
    ✈️ In Episode 23 of The Skybound Dictionary, we explore the difference between these two deceptively simple words:
    🔹 TALL → physical height
    🔹 HIGH → position, elevation, level or degree From tall towers to high altitude, discover how to choose the right word for precise aviation English. The right word. The right meaning.
    🎧 Listen now — and keep your aviation English sharp.
    Show More Show Less
    6 mins
  • 22. Miami Runway Excursion Accident - Aviation English Beyond The Checklist (CSB7598)

    22. Miami Runway Excursion Accident - Aviation English Beyond The Checklist (CSB7598)
    Sep 15 2026
    In this episode of aviation English by Revise Before Flight, I look at the language used to describe the recent Amazon Prime Air runway excursion at Miami International Airport.

    What is the difference between overran and excursion? Why does the NTSB use struck rather than hit? And what exactly are navigational aids and equipment?
    Using the NTSB’s own wording, I explore three vocabulary choices that can help pilots and aviation professionals communicate more precisely - especially when discussing accidents and incidents.

    In this episode, you’ll learn:
    ✈️ overran vs excursion
    ✈️ struck vs hit
    ✈️ navigational aids vs equipment
    ✈️ how register and precision matter in aviation English
    ✈️ how official accident-reporting language differs from everyday English
    The NTSB investigation is ongoing, so I’ll focus on the language used to describe the event, not on drawing conclusions about its cause.
    Show More Show Less
    7 mins
  • 21. How To Describe Turbulence Precisely - ICAO Booster 1 (UA115)

    21. How To Describe Turbulence Precisely - ICAO Booster 1 (UA115)
    Aug 30 2026
    🎙️ ICAO Booster #1 — How To Describe Turbulence Precisely

    Turbulence can be routine — or it can become a genuine operational concern. In this first episode of the ICAO Booster series, I break down exactly how to describe turbulence with precision: from grammar (why turbulence is uncountable) to intensity (light, moderate, severe, extreme) to the difference between occasional and intermittent. Using a real NTSB report on United Airlines Flight 115, I'll see how professional aviation language turns an ordinary in-flight event into a precise operational description — right down to a Level 5/6 phrase you can learn by heart.

    ✈️ Read the accompanying blog post with a visual summary and phraseology notes:
    https://revisebeforeflight.com/how-to-describe-turbulence-precisely/

    📩 Join the Aviation English Logbook newsletter for exclusive learning materials and podcast updates.

    Have an idea for a future episode?
    emilia@revisebeforeflight.com
    ✈️
    Show More Show Less
    16 mins
  • 20. Minimum Fuel vs Fuel Emergency - Aviation English Beyond The Checklist (AVA052)

    20. Minimum Fuel vs Fuel Emergency - Aviation English Beyond The Checklist (AVA052)
    Jul 31 2026
    🎙️ Minimum Fuel vs Fuel Emergency — Aviation English Beyond the Checklist (AVA052)

    When should a pilot report "Minimum Fuel" and when is it time to declare "Mayday, fuel"? In this episode, we explore the crucial difference between these two ICAO expressions, why they are not interchangeable, and how precise communication can make all the difference in flight operations. Using Avianca Flight 052 as a case study, we'll see how one accident reinforced the importance of standard ICAO phraseology and clear pilot–controller communication.

    ✈️ Read the accompanying blog post with a visual summary and phraseology notes:
    https://revisebeforeflight.com/minimum-fuel-vs-fuel-emergency/

    📩 Join the Aviation English Logbook newsletter for exclusive learning materials and podcast updates. Have an idea for a future episode?
    emilia@revisebeforeflight.com
    ✈️
    Show More Show Less
    13 mins
  • 19. Structural Icing, Ice Crystal Icing, Pitot Icing - What's the Difference? (AH5017)

    19. Structural Icing, Ice Crystal Icing, Pitot Icing - What's the Difference? (AH5017)
    Jul 16 2026
    Structural Icing, Ice Crystal Icing & Pitot Icing: What's the Difference?
    In this episode of Aviation English by Revise Before Flight, I explore the difference between structural icing, ice crystal icing, and pitot icing.

    Using clear explanations and a real-world case study involving Air Algérie Flight AH5017, I’ll examine how each type of icing occurs, why it creates unique risks, and how pilots should describe these events using accurate Aviation English terminology.

    You’ll learn:
    ✈️ Why “icing” usually refers to structural icing
    ✈️ How ice crystal icing can cause serious failures without visible ice accumulation
    ✈️ Why pitot icing affects airspeed information rather than the aircraft structure
    Whether you are a pilot, aviation student, or simply passionate about flight, this episode will help you understand one of the most important distinctions in aviation weather and communication.

    Check a helpful illustration for this episode on my website www.ReviseBeforeFlight.com/structural-icing-ice-crystal-icing-pitot-icing-whats-the-difference/
    Show More Show Less
    6 mins
  • 18. Thunderstorm Season – CBs, Hail & Microburst Threats | ICAO Aviation English

    18. Thunderstorm Season – CBs, Hail & Microburst Threats | ICAO Aviation English
    Jun 30 2026
    🎙️ Episode 18 | Thunderstorm Season – CBs, Hail & Microburst Threat | ICAO Aviation English Case Study

    Summer brings more than blue skies—it also brings some of the most dangerous weather phenomena pilots can encounter.

    In this episode of the Revise Before Flight Podcast, I explore three major convective weather hazards every aviation professional should be able to describe confidently in ICAO aviation English:
    🌩️ Cumulonimbus (CB) clouds
    🧊 Hail
    💨 Microbursts and low-level windshear
    You'll learn:
    ✈️ How thunderstorms develop and why they pose multiple simultaneous hazards
    ✈️ Why hail can strike aircraft even outside the visible storm
    ✈️ How a microburst creates dangerous windshear during takeoff and landing
    ✈️ Operational aviation vocabulary expected at ICAO Level 5–6
    ✈️ Professional phrases pilots use when requesting weather deviations and describing convective activity

    Whether you're preparing for an ICAO Language Proficiency Test, improving your operational aviation English, or simply passionate about aviation safety, this episode will help you communicate complex weather phenomena with greater precision and confidence.
    Show More Show Less
    11 mins
  • 17. Landing Gear: Collapse versus Retraction - Aviation English Beyond The Checklist (LH450 at FRA)

    17. Landing Gear: Collapse versus Retraction - Aviation English Beyond The Checklist (LH450 at FRA)
    Jun 14 2026
    When a Lufthansa Boeing 787 abruptly drops to the tarmac at the gate, media headlines immediately scream "Landing Gear Collapse." But as aviation professionals, we have to ask: is that what actually happened? Or did the gear retract?

    In Episode 17 of Revise Before Flight Podcast, we break down a sudden ground incident involving flight LH-450 at Frankfurt Airport to explore one of the most critical—and most misunderstood—distinctions in aviation terminology.
    Because in aviation, a "collapse" and a "retraction" tell two entirely different operational stories. One sends engineers looking for fractured metal; the other sends them looking for sequencing valves.

    In this episode, you will learn:
    ✈️ The Operational Reality: A breakdown of the LH-450 pre-boarding incident.
    ✈️ The Core Difference: Why structural yielding (collapse) and system-driven movement (retraction) are never interchangeable.
    ✈️ ICAO Level 5–6 Vocabulary: Master key phrases like uncommanded retraction, structural yielding, and commence boarding.
    Show More Show Less
    8 mins