In the non-routine recordings something goes wrong: a stuck door, a sick passenger, a suspicious situation, a runway suddenly unusable. The first question is always some form of “What do you understand?” — and the three options usually describe the same event at three different strengths. Your job is to hear exactly how bad the speakers said it was: no worse, no better.
The three-strength pattern
A typical option set looks like this:
1) The aircraft must land immediately. 2) The aircraft needs to land as soon as possible. 3) The aircraft can continue its flight.
All three are about landing. The recording decides which strength is true — and the deciding evidence is usually one phrase: “negative, request normal return” kills option 1; “we prefer to come back” kills option 3. Listen for the sentence that measures the problem.
Beware the drama reflex. When you hear “engine”, “police” or “medical”, the hand wants the most dramatic option. But non-routine is not the same as emergency — most of these recordings are professionals calmly downgrading a scare: “nothing unusual so far”, “negative emergency”, “a slight problem”. The correct option is usually the measured one.
What this section costs you
The section
The rule
Size
Ten recorded exchanges, routine and non-routine, about nine minutes in total. Two questions after each one, 15 seconds per question.
Replays
One. You may ask for the recording again, once.
Marking
Automatic, and this is a pass-or-fail section: error-free keeps Level 6 open, up to two errors keeps Level 5, up to four keeps Level 4. More than four errors here fails the whole test, however strong the interview was.
Twenty questions, four errors allowed. That is the whole reason this lesson is about small words rather than big vocabulary: on this section, one misheard may costs exactly as much as a word you have never met.
Warm up — three strengths, out loud (60 seconds)
Take this fact: “a passenger feels unwell.” Say it at three strengths: as a routine note, as an urgent request, and as a full emergency — changing only the verbs and one or two words each time. Feeling the scale from the speaking side sharpens the listening side.
01:00
Little words, big meaning — where the answer actually lives
The comprehension answer almost never hangs on a technical term. It hangs on a small grammatical word that sets the strength, the time, or the condition. These are the seven that decide most questions.
The word
What it decides
Hear the difference
may / might
Possibility, not fact
“We may be unable to push back” — nothing has failed yet.
must / can't
Certainty, both directions
“They must have fixed it” = the evidence says yes. “They can't have” = the evidence says no.
unless
The escape condition
“We hold unless cleared” = we hold, except if clearance comes.
about to
Immediacy
“About to vacate” = seconds away — but not yet done.
no longer / still
Whether a state has ended
“The runway is still occupied” vs “no longer occupied” — opposite answers, one syllable apart.
negative
Cancels what follows
“Negative — no emergency at this time” = there is NO emergency. The frightening word sitting next to negative is the bait.
not more than / fewer than
The exact boundary
“Not more than five” includes five; “fewer than five” excludes it.
1. A pilot reports: “The vibrations have ceased, but we'd prefer to return and have the engine looked at.” What is true?
2. A controller says: “Runway 02 is unavailable as per the notice — they resealed the surface today.” The strongest option is…
Speak the scale (90 seconds)
Improvise one situation — say, smoke seen near a stand — and report it three ways: with may, with must, and with negative + reassurance. Hearing your own voice move the strength dial is the drill.
01:30
Words in context — the second question of every audio
Every non-routine audio ends with “What does [word] mean in this context?” — 15 seconds, three near-synonyms. The method: put the candidate word back into the sentence and ask what job it does there. Six rounds, on the clock.
1. 00:15 “The broken-down catering truck has been towed away.” — Towed away means…
2. 00:15 “Cabin crew will keep an eye on the passenger until landing.” — Keep an eye on means…
3. 00:15 “We need to disembark one passenger before departure.” — Disembark means…
4. 00:15 “Give way to the business jet crossing right to left.” — Give way to means…
5. 00:15 “If the delay grows, we might shut down to save fuel.” — Shut down means…
6. 00:15 “We broke out of the clouds at around a thousand feet.” — Broke out of means…
Dialogue drills — non-routine, full format
Four radio conversations where something goes wrong. For each one, press Listen and don't look at the words. Then answer the two questions — press Go to start each 15-second clock. You can listen one more time. When you've answered, open the script to check.
Drill 1 — the passenger who shouldn't be there
P: Ground, Kestrel 7 7 0, we are at the holding point but we need to return to the stand — the cabin crew have found a passenger whose ticket is for a different destination. GND: Kestrel 7 7 0, roger, is this a security matter or an airline matter? P: An airline matter only, no security concern — they simply boarded the wrong flight. We need to disembark them and locate their baggage, Kestrel 7 7 0. GND: Kestrel 7 7 0, understood. Your stand has been taken; taxi to stand 4 2 instead, and be advised the baggage search may take some time. P: Stand 4 2, copied — we are already running late, please ask the handlers to expedite, Kestrel 7 7 0.
A. 00:15 — What do you understand?
B. 00:15 — What does locate mean in this context?
Drill 2 — the light that may be lying
P: Approach, Vanera 2 1 5, we have an unsafe gear indication — the nose gear shows unlocked. It may be a faulty sensor, but we'd like a low pass so the tower can inspect visually. APP: Vanera 2 1 5, approved, make a low pass runway 24, the tower will observe. Are you declaring an emergency at this time? P: Negative for now — if the gear is confirmed unsafe after the pass, we will declare then, Vanera 2 1 5. APP: Vanera 2 1 5, roger. After the pass, climb to 3,000 feet and expect holding while we coordinate. Fire services will be on standby as a precaution.
A. 00:15 — What do you understand?
B. 00:15 — What does on standby mean in this context?
Drill 3 — the passenger who feels unwell
P: Approach, Miralta 4 1 8, we have a passenger on board with chest pains. Request priority for landing, and an ambulance to meet us at the stand. APP: Miralta 4 1 8, roger. Are you requesting a priority landing, or are you declaring a medical emergency? P: Negative — no emergency at this time. The passenger is conscious and stable, and there is a doctor on board with them. Priority is sufficient, Miralta 4 1 8. APP: Miralta 4 1 8, understood, you are number one. Descend to 4,000 feet, expect runway 2 7, and the ambulance will be at the stand on arrival. P: Number one, descending 4,000 feet, runway 2 7, Miralta 4 1 8.
A. 00:15 — What do you understand?
B. 00:15 — What does priority mean in this context?
Drill 4 — the fuel that decides everything
P: Radar, Tesca 6 0 3, we have been holding for twenty-five minutes now. We can hold for a further fifteen, but after that we must divert to our alternate. RAD: Tesca 6 0 3, roger. The runway is expected to reopen within ten minutes, unless the inspection finds more debris. P: Copied. We will hold for now — if the runway is not open in fifteen minutes, we will divert, Tesca 6 0 3. RAD: Tesca 6 0 3, understood. I will pass your fuel situation to the tower, and keep you advised.
A. 00:15 — What do you understand?
B. 00:15 — What does divert mean in this context?
Brief a colleague — turn listening into speaking
The strongest comprehension check there is: retell it. If you can brief the situation accurately in your own words — with the strengths intact — you understood it. If your retelling makes it more dramatic or less conditional than the original, that is precisely the listening error to fix.
1. Brief Drill 2 (90 seconds)
A colleague walks in mid-situation. Brief them on Vanera 215: what the indication showed, why it may be false, what happens next, and under what condition it becomes an emergency. Keep every may, if and for now where the pilot put them.
01:30
2. The downgrade drill (60 seconds)
Take Drill 1 and imagine a stressed colleague has heard only rumours: “there's a security problem on the Kestrel!” Correct them calmly, in two or three sentences, quoting the pilot's own measure of the problem.
01:00
From the earlier lessons — without looking back
Lesson 4 — the numbers
Say these aloud as the radio says them, then say what each one means: flight level 8 0 · heading 2 4 0 · frequency 1 1 8 decimal 5. Then answer this: why is a pair like 382 and 328 dangerous in the same recording?
“Flight level eight zero” · “heading two four zero” · “frequency one one eight decimal five” — digit by digit, never “eighty” or “two hundred and forty”. The 382 / 328 pair is dangerous because the same digits come back in a different order, so you must tie every number to the call sign that owns it, not simply remember the digits.
Lesson 3 — the photographs
Name the five traps every wrong photo statement is built from. Then: how many photographs are there, and how long do you get for each one?
Where · how many · what stage · who does what · not in the picture. Five photographs, 45 seconds each, two true statements out of six.
Lesson 1 — the interview
What are the four moves of the 60-second answer? Give one, right now, to: “What is stressful about your work environment?”
Answer the question in the first sentence → give the reason → one concrete example → leave a door open for the examiner.
Self-check
I can…
Next: Lesson 6 — the full mock exam: interview, radio recordings and the five photographs, back to back, on the real clocks.