Any Traffic In The Area, Please Advise - The One Radio Call The AIM Specifically Tells You Not To Make, And What Good Pilots Say Instead

The phrase “any traffic in the area, please advise” is the one radio call the FAA’s Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) specifically says should not be used under any condition. It doesn’t work the way pilots think, it can jam the frequency, and it builds a false sense of security. The correct technique at a non-towered airport is to self-announce your own position clearly and on schedule, and let other pilots build the picture from your calls - just as you build yours from theirs.

Why does the AIM tell you not to say “any traffic, please advise”?

At a non-towered airport, there’s no controller separating traffic. What you have instead is a shared frequency - the CTAF (Common Traffic Advisory Frequency) - and an honor system built entirely on pilots telling each other where they are. No radar, no controller with the big picture. Just you, a microphone, and everyone else’s ears.

The whole system lives or dies on position reports that actually paint a picture. So when a pilot rolls onto the frequency, gets nervous about who’s out there, and keys up with “any traffic in the area, please advise,” they’re working against the system rather than with it.

The guidance is in AIM Chapter 4, in the section on traffic advisory practices at airports without operating control towers. The exact language states that “traffic in the area, please advise” is not a recognized self-announce position or intention phrase, and should not be used under any condition.

“Should not be used under any condition” is about as blunt as the FAA ever gets. When the government stops hedging and just says don’t, it’s worth understanding why.

What’s actually wrong with the “please advise” call?

There are three specific problems.

Problem one: it doesn’t do what you think it does. When you ask “any traffic please advise,” you’re asking every airplane on the frequency to transmit at once and describe themselves to you. If there are four airplanes in the pattern and they’re all good citizens, they key up at roughly the same moment to answer.

But only one person can talk on a radio frequency at a time. When two airplanes transmit simultaneously, you get a squeal - a heterodyne - and both calls come out as garbage. The very moment you most want information, you’ve stepped on it. You asked for a picture and jammed the printer.

Problem two: it builds a false sense of security. Say you make the call and nobody answers. That tells you nothing. It does not mean the sky is empty. It means nobody who has a radio, is on the right frequency, has their volume up, and felt like answering chose to answer.

There could be a NORDO airplane out there - no radio, and perfectly legal at most non-towered fields. A Cub with no electrical system. A glider. A pilot who simply isn’t monitoring. Silence on the radio is not the same as an empty pattern. The pilot who treats it that way is the one who taxis out feeling safe and never puts their eyes outside.

The radio is not there to replace your eyeballs. It’s there to help you point them in the right direction. The most dangerous thing you can do at a non-towered field is let the frequency lull you to sleep.

What should you say instead? Self-announce your position.

The answer is simple: you self-announce. You don’t ask other people to report their position - you report yours. Clearly, out loud, on a schedule.

The format that works every time follows this order: airport name, aircraft, position and intention, airport name again. The airport name goes at both ends because up to three airports can share the same CTAF within radio range. The bookends make sure the right people know you’re talking about their field - the first one wakes everybody up, and the last one confirms it in case they missed the beginning.

Here’s the sequence for a typical arrival:

• Ten miles out: “Podunk traffic, Skyhawk five four three two one, one zero miles south, inbound for landing, Podunk.” Notice you didn’t ask anybody anything. You told them where you are, and anyone in the pattern now knows a Skyhawk is coming up from the south.
• Entering the downwind: “Podunk traffic, Skyhawk three two one, left downwind runway one eight, Podunk.”
• Turning base: call it.
• Turning final: call it.
• Clear of the runway: announce it, so the pilot on a two-mile final knows the runway’s about to be theirs.

That’s the rhythm. You’re not spamming the frequency - you’re hitting the decision points, the places where somebody else needs to know you moved.

How should you identify yourself and give your position?

Use your aircraft type plus the last three of your tail number - not the full N-number. “Skyhawk three two one” tells another pilot two things that matter: look for a high-wing single, and here’s a short callsign to answer you with. “Cessna one seven two, November five four three two one” is a mouthful, eats up airtime, and doesn’t help anyone find you faster. The AIM recommends aircraft type plus the last three. Lead with what you are, because that’s what the other pilot’s eyes are hunting for.

State your position in plain, useful terms. “Ten miles south” is gold. “Over the lake” is worthless to a pilot who isn’t from around there and has no idea which lake you mean. Give distance and cardinal direction from the field, every time. A landmark is fine as an add-on, but always give range and bearing first, because that works for everybody.

How do you handle a quiet frequency without asking for a roll call?

Listen before you talk. When you come onto the frequency, don’t key up right away. Spend a full thirty seconds just listening and building the picture in your head before you add your voice to it. Half the value of the CTAF is what you learn by staying quiet and paying attention. You’ll often find you didn’t need to ask anything, because three other pilots already told you exactly where they are.

Resist the urge to fill silence with questions. If it’s quiet, the answer is not to demand a roll call. The answer is to make your own clear position reports and keep your head on a swivel. Announce, look, announce, look. That’s the job.

What if I’m a nervous student and fumble the phrasing?

Radio work is genuinely one of the hardest parts of learning to fly. You’ve got a brand-new skill in your hands, you’re trying to fly the airplane, and now you’re also supposed to sound like a professional on a frequency full of strangers - some of whom talk far too fast. It’s completely normal to freeze up, to say the wrong thing, or to key the mic and forget your own tail number. Everyone in that pattern did it once.

So take the pressure off: nobody at a non-towered field is grading your delivery. They just want to know where you are. If you skip the fancy phrasing and say “Podunk traffic, blue Cessna, I’m two miles north coming in to land, Podunk,” you’ve done the job. You told them what you are, where you are, and what you’re doing. Clarity beats polish, every time.

What does the checkride examiner want to see?

On the practical test, when you fly into a non-towered field, the examiner is looking for exactly this behavior - not a perfect radio voice. They want to see that you self-announce at the right points, that your calls carry the airport, the aircraft, the position, and the intention, and that your eyes are outside scanning for traffic the whole time.

If you key up with “any traffic please advise,” an examiner who knows the AIM will make a note. Not because it’s a violation, but because it signals you learned the frequency by imitating other pilots doing it wrong, instead of learning it from the book.

The Airman Certification Standards (ACS) spells out traffic pattern operations and radio communications as areas of operation you must demonstrate, and underneath those standards is the AIM guidance above. The good news: if you build the self-announce habit now, you’re not learning a checkride trick. You’re learning the real thing - and it just happens to be what the examiner wants.

What does the system look like when it works?

Picture yourself inbound to your home field on a busy Saturday. You come onto the CTAF and, instead of keying up, you listen. In thirty seconds you hear a Cherokee call left downwind for one eight. You hear a Cub - no fancy phraseology, just “turning base, one eight.” And you hear a twin ten miles out from the north, inbound.

You never asked a single question, but you have a complete picture: Cherokee in the pattern, Cub ahead of it, twin coming down from the north. Now you make your call, slot yourself in, and every one of those pilots updates their picture to include you.

That’s the system working exactly as designed. No pile-up, no false comfort, no dead air where a demand for information used to be - just pilots telling each other the truth about where they are, and keeping their eyes outside.

Key Takeaways

• Never say “any traffic in the area, please advise.” The AIM (Chapter 4) states it is not a recognized phrase and should not be used under any condition.
• Self-announce your own position using the format: airport, aircraft type + last three of tail number, position and intention, airport again.
• Silence on the frequency does not mean an empty pattern - NORDO aircraft are legal and common at non-towered fields. Keep your eyes outside.
• Listen for 30 seconds before transmitting, and give position as distance and cardinal direction from the field (“ten miles south”), not vague landmarks.
• Clarity beats polish. A plain, accurate position report does the job - examiners and other pilots just need to know where you are.