The Plastic Pilot recently published a post titled Do you know how to use 123.45? which got me thinking about what exactly the pilot-to-pilot frequency was supposed to be used for in Australia.
Here's what the ERSA (En-Route Supplement Australia) has to say about it. It's in the NAV/COMM part, section 4. The bold face is my addition:
4. AIR-TO-AIR COMMUNICATIONS - CIVIL
4.1 Interpilot air-to-air communications in Australian FIRs may be conducted on frequency 123.45MHZ. Communications between aircraft on this frequency are restricted to the exchange of information relating to aircraft operations. Communications are to be established by either a directed call to a specific aircraft or a general call, taking into account conditions pertaining to the use of the particular channel. As target aircraft may be guarding more than one frequency, the initial call should include the distinctive channel identification “INTERPILOT” or identification of the air-to-air frequency.
4.2 The following examples illustrate the application of the calling procedures.
a. Qantas 2, SPEEDBIRD 15, INTERPILOT, DO YOU READ?; or
b. ANY AIRCRAFT VICINITY lOS 135E, QANTAS 5, 123.45, OVER.
So I guess it's all in what you understand by "the exchange of information relating to aircraft operations". Maintaining separation and providing advice on weather are of course in, but commenting on how beautiful a day this is for flying may not be.
The ERSA makes a point that I didn't think about before: even if there seems to be no-one talking on 123.45, that doesn't mean no-one is listening. So unnecessary communications on that frequency add to the workload of pilots "guarding more than one frequency". I didn't know about the use of the word "Interpilot" for identifying the channel either. Always something new to learn.
More critical than chatting on 123.45 is probably the problem of pilots chatting on frequencies used for auto-information at non-towered aerodromes or, even worse, using 121.5 as a chat channel. But that's a topic for another post.
Here's what the ERSA (En-Route Supplement Australia) has to say about it. It's in the NAV/COMM part, section 4. The bold face is my addition:
4. AIR-TO-AIR COMMUNICATIONS - CIVIL
4.1 Interpilot air-to-air communications in Australian FIRs may be conducted on frequency 123.45MHZ. Communications between aircraft on this frequency are restricted to the exchange of information relating to aircraft operations. Communications are to be established by either a directed call to a specific aircraft or a general call, taking into account conditions pertaining to the use of the particular channel. As target aircraft may be guarding more than one frequency, the initial call should include the distinctive channel identification “INTERPILOT” or identification of the air-to-air frequency.
4.2 The following examples illustrate the application of the calling procedures.
a. Qantas 2, SPEEDBIRD 15, INTERPILOT, DO YOU READ?; or
b. ANY AIRCRAFT VICINITY lOS 135E, QANTAS 5, 123.45, OVER.
So I guess it's all in what you understand by "the exchange of information relating to aircraft operations". Maintaining separation and providing advice on weather are of course in, but commenting on how beautiful a day this is for flying may not be.
The ERSA makes a point that I didn't think about before: even if there seems to be no-one talking on 123.45, that doesn't mean no-one is listening. So unnecessary communications on that frequency add to the workload of pilots "guarding more than one frequency". I didn't know about the use of the word "Interpilot" for identifying the channel either. Always something new to learn.
More critical than chatting on 123.45 is probably the problem of pilots chatting on frequencies used for auto-information at non-towered aerodromes or, even worse, using 121.5 as a chat channel. But that's a topic for another post.
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