For US student pilots
VFR radio failure: what to do when the radio dies
Radio failure on a VFR flight is not an emergency by itself, and the AIM says so: whether it is one is the pilot’s call (AIM 6-4-1 b). What it is, is a procedure, and the procedure is written for the situation everyone worries about: getting back into a towered airport without being able to talk to it.
First, is it really dead?
Most “failures” are a volume knob, a squelch, a headset plug, a frequency with the wrong digit, or a stuck microphone. Check the audio panel, try the other radio if you have one, try the frequency you were last on and 121.5, and listen for your own transmissions on the sidetone. A stuck mic blocks everyone; if nobody has answered anything for a while, look at your own push-to-talk.
Squawk 7600
7600 is the code for communications failure (AIM 4-1-20). It tells every radar controller in range what has happened, and a tower with radar will see it too. Set it as soon as you are sure, and keep flying the airplane.
In VFR conditions: continue VFR and land as soon as practicable
The rule in 14 CFR 91.185, quoted in the AIM, is that a pilot who loses two-way radio in VFR conditions continues under VFR and lands as soon as practicable (AIM 6-4-1 c 2). The AIM adds that “practicable” does not mean “as soon as possible”: you are not required to land at an unsuitable airport or minutes short of your destination (c 2 note). A non-towered airport where you self-announce anyway is the easy answer; a towered one needs the procedure below.
Arriving at a towered airport
Receiver dead, transmitter working. Stay outside or above the Class D until you have worked out the direction and flow of traffic. Then tell the tower your type, position, altitude, that you intend to land, and ask to be controlled by light signals (AIM 4-2-13 a 1 (a)). At three to five miles, transmit your position and join the pattern, watching the tower for lights; if you fly a full pattern, transmit downwind and turning base (a 1 (b)).
Palo Alto Tower, Cessna Three One Six Zero Foxtrot, receiver inoperative, five miles south, one thousand five hundred, landing Palo Alto, request light signals.
Transmitter dead, receiver working. Same wait outside or above the Class D, then join the pattern, monitor the tower frequency for instructions addressed to you, and watch for a light signal (a 2). The tower may talk to you even though you cannot answer.
Both dead. Wait outside or above until you understand the flow, join the pattern, and keep the tower in sight for light signals (a 3). Squawk 7600 so the tower knows why you are silent.
The light signals
The tower uses a light gun with steady or flashing red, green and white, and the meaning depends on whether you are in the air or on the ground (AIM 4-3-13; TBL 4-3-1). In flight: steady green is cleared to land; flashing green is return for landing, with a steady green to follow at the right time; steady red is give way and continue circling; flashing red is airport unsafe, do not land; alternating red and green is exercise extreme caution. The card below has the full table for the air and the ground.
Acknowledging a signal
By day, rock the wings in flight, or move the ailerons or rudder on the ground; at night, blink the landing or navigation lights (AIM 4-2-13 a 2; 4-3-13 e). At night on the ground, turn on the landing light and taxi clear of the runway to a place the tower can see you, and leave it on until you get a signal (4-3-13 c).
At a non-towered airport
Nobody is controlling you anyway. Fly the standard pattern with extra care, watch for traffic on every leg, and if your transmitter works, keep self-announcing in the blind on the CTAF with the airport name first and last (AIM 4-1-9 g 8). Others may hear you even if you cannot hear them.
Failure before you depart
If the radio fails before you leave the parking area, get it fixed. If you cannot, telephone the tower and ask for authorization to depart without two-way radio; you will be given departure information and told to monitor the tower frequency or watch for light signals (AIM 4-2-13 b). If it fails after you have left parking, watch the tower for lights or monitor the frequency (b).
Radio failure
- Squawk 7600
- And, in VFR conditions, continue VFR and land as soon as practicable — which is not “as soon as possible”, nor at an unsuitable airport. [AIM 6-4-1 c 2]
- Receiver failed, arriving at a towered airport
- Stay outside or above the Class D until you have worked out the traffic flow; then transmit in the blind — type, position, altitude, intention to land, request light signals — and at 3 to 5 miles announce your position and join the pattern, watching the tower. [AIM 4-2-13 a 1]
- Transmitter failed (or both)
- Stay outside or above the Class D until the flow is known, join the pattern, monitor the tower frequency and watch for light signals; acknowledge by rocking the wings. [AIM 4-2-13 a 2, 3]
- Departing with a failed radio
- Have it fixed; otherwise telephone the tower for authorisation to depart without two-way radio. [AIM 4-2-13 b]
Light signals
The tower controls aircraft without a working radio by light gun. In daylight acknowledge by rocking the wings (in flight) or moving the ailerons or rudder (on the ground); at night by flashing the landing or navigation lights. [AIM 4-3-13, TBL 4-3-1]
- Steady green
- In flight: cleared to land. On the ground: cleared for takeoff.
- Flashing green
- In flight: return for landing (a steady green will follow). On the ground: cleared to taxi.
- Steady red
- In flight: give way to other aircraft and continue circling. On the ground: stop.
- Flashing red
- In flight: airport unsafe, do not land. On the ground: taxi clear of the runway in use.
- Flashing white
- On the ground: return to your starting point on the airport.
- Alternating red and green
- Exercise extreme caution.
Rehearse the flight where the radio stops working
TowerTalk's Exercise G is the non-standard situations: radio failure, light signals and the calls that are not in the script, with an AI tower at a real US airport, graded with the AIM paragraph.
Related
Study aid, written in our own words from the FAA Aeronautical Information Manual (Change 3, 7/9/26) and the Pilot/Controller Glossary, with paragraph references so you can check each point. Last reviewed 10 September 2026; awaiting review by a US flight instructor. It does not reproduce those documents and is not a substitute for them — always defer to the AIM, the current FAA publications, your instructor and your examiner. TowerTalk is not approved or endorsed by the FAA.