ICAO Listening Practice Test 2 – Intermediate & Non-Routine Aeronautical Transmissions

ICAO Listening Practice Test 2

The second module of the ICAO Listening series evaluates candidates on intermediate to advanced non-routine radiotelephony (RTF) exchanges. Under ICAO Doc 9835 and Annex 10 standards, candidates targeting ICAO Level 5 (Extended) or Level 6 (Expert) must demonstrate accurate auditory processing when managing oceanic clearances, volcanic ash encounters, bird strike damage on rotation, and severe crosswind diversions involving international accents and realistic background frequency noise.

This test consists of five complete audio transcript sections accompanied by information-extraction questions, multiple-choice tasks, verbatim phonetic analysis, and comprehensive answer keys with operational rationales.

ICAO Listening Practice Test 2 Overview

Section 1: Oceanic clearance delivery & HF SELCAL verification (Information Extraction)
Section 2: High-altitude volcanic ash encounter & tactical diversion (Comprehension Questions)
Section 3: Bird strike on rotation & asymmetric engine vibration (Technical Analysis)
Section 4: Severe low-level wind shear & microburst escape maneuver (RTF Decoding)
Section 5: Main gear hydraulic jam & overweight holding procedure (Full Scenario Synthesis)
complete transcripts, phonetic transcriptions, and scoring criteria included

Section 1: Oceanic Clearance Delivery & HF SELCAL Verification

Listen to the dialogue between Shanwick Oceanic Clearance Delivery and Speedbird 217 entering the North Atlantic Track (NAT) structure:

Audio Script 2.1: North Atlantic Track Clearance

Pilot (BAW 217): "Shanwick Delivery, Speedbird two-one-seven, request Oceanic Clearance. Estimating waypoint DOGAL at one-three-four-five UTC. Request Track Charlie, flight level three six zero, Mach decimal eight zero."

ATC (Shanwick Delivery): "Speedbird two-one-seven, Shanwick Delivery, cleared to Boston via Track Charlie: DOGAL, 54 North 020 West, 55 North 030 West, 54 North 040 West, 52 North 050 West, HECKK. Maintain flight level three fow-er zero, Mach decimal eight zero. Cross DOGAL at or after one-three-fow-er-seven UTC. SELCAL check Charlie-Delta-Alpha-Bravo."

Pilot (BAW 217): "Cleared to Boston via Track Charlie: DOGAL, 54 North 020 West, 55 North 030 West, 54 North 040 West, 52 North 050 West, HECKK. Maintain flight level three fow-er zero, Mach decimal eight zero. Cross DOGAL at or after one-three-fow-er-seven UTC. SELCAL Charlie-Delta-Alpha-Bravo, Speedbird two-one-seven."

Question #	Comprehension Objective	Correct Decoded Answer
1.1	What flight level was cleared by Oceanic Delivery compared to the crew's request?	Cleared at FL340 (requested FL360).
1.2	What time restriction was placed on the entry fix DOGAL?	Cross DOGAL at or after 13:47 UTC.
1.3	What four-letter SELCAL code was verified?	CD-AB (Charlie-Delta-Alpha-Bravo).

Section 2: High-Altitude Volcanic Ash Encounter & Tactical Rerouting

Listen to the transmission between Lufthansa 772 and Jakarta Area Control following unexpected exposure to high-altitude volcanic particulate matter:

Audio Script 2.2: Volcanic Cloud Encounter

Pilot (DLH 772): "Jakarta Radar, Lufthansa seven-seven-two, PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN. We observe a sulfurous odor in the cockpit, St. Elmo's fire on the windshield, and rising exhaust gas temperatures on all four engines. We suspect inadvertent volcanic ash ingestion. We are executing an immediate one-eight-zero-degree turn to the left and descending to flight level two fow-er zero."

ATC (Jakarta Radar): "Lufthansa seven-seven-two, Jakarta, PAN-PAN acknowledged. Left turn heading zero niner zero approved, descend flight level two fow-er zero, clear of all traffic. Advise if you require diversion to Jakarta or Singapore."

Question #	Test Prompt	Official Answer Key
2.1	What physical cockpit indications alerted the crew to volcanic ash?	Sulfurous odor, St. Elmo's fire on the windshield, and rising EGT on all engines.
2.2	What immediate escape maneuver did the flight crew initiate?	180-degree left turn and descent to FL240.
2.3	What heading did ATC assign to facilitate the escape trajectory?	Heading 090° (cleared to FL240).

Section 3: Bird Strike on Rotation & Asymmetric Engine Vibration

Listen to the immediate coordination following a heavy bird strike during initial climb-out from Copenhagen:

Audio Script 2.3: Multi-Bird Ingestion

Pilot (SAS 450): "Copenhagen Tower, Scandinavian fow-er-five-zero, we struck a flock of sea gulls immediately after rotation. Number one engine has severe N1 vibration, high EGT, and we are throttling it back to idle. Request straight-ahead climb to three thousand feet, then right turn to hold over the bay."

ATC (Copenhagen Tower): "Scandinavian fow-er-five-zero, climb straight ahead to three thousand feet, QNH one zero zero eight. When established at three thousand, turn right heading zero niner zero for holding, wind zero fow-er zero degrees, one five knots, gusts two two knots."

Question #	Comprehension Objective	Detailed Answer
3.1	When did the bird strike occur during departure?	Immediately after rotation on initial takeoff run.
3.2	What cockpit action was taken with engine number one?	Throttled back to idle due to severe vibration and high EGT.
3.3	What surface wind conditions were reported by the tower controller?	040° at 15 knots, gusting to 22 knots (QNH 1008 hPa).

Section 4: Low-Level Wind Shear & Microburst Escape Maneuver

Listen to the rapid dialogue on final approach when an aircraft encounters a severe convective downdraft:

Audio Script 2.4: Wind Shear Escape on Short Final

Pilot (AFR 208): "Geneva Tower, Air France two-zero-eight, WINDSHEAR ESCAPE, going around! Encountered fifteen-knot airspeed drop and severe downdraft at three hundred feet."

ATC (Geneva Tower): "Air France two-zero-eight, roger windshear go-around. Climb straight ahead fow-er thousand feet, contact Geneva Departure on one one niner decimal seven."

Pilot (AFR 208): "Climb straight ahead fow-er thousand feet, switching to Departure on one one niner decimal seven, Air France two-zero-eight."

Question #	Test Prompt	Model Answer
4.1	What wind shear callout was announced by the pilot?	`WINDSHEAR ESCAPE` (initiating maximum thrust go-around).
4.2	At what altitude did the aircraft encounter the airspeed loss?	At 300 feet AGL (15-knot airspeed drop with severe sink rate).
4.3	What missed approach altitude was assigned by the tower?	4,000 feet on departure frequency 119.700 MHz.

Section 5: Main Landing Gear Hydraulic Jam & Overweight Holding

Listen to the extended technical coordination involving a mechanical gear extension failure on a wide-body flight:

Audio Script 2.5: Unsafe Gear Indication & Fuel Jettison

Pilot (SWR 110): "Zurich Approach, Swiss one-one-zero, PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN. Our right main landing gear indicates unsafe and red transit light remains illuminated. We recycled the gear handle with no change. We are overweight for landing and request clearance to enter holding at waypoint GIPOL at seven thousand feet to conduct manual alternate gear extension and assess fuel dumping."

ATC (Zurich Approach): "Swiss one-one-zero, PAN-PAN acknowledged. Cleared direct waypoint GIPOL, hold at seven thousand feet, standard right-hand turns, inbound track zero eight five degrees, QNH one zero二two. Emergency fire rescue services have been placed on local standby."

Question #	Comprehension Objective	Scoring Answer Key
5.1	What specific landing gear malfunction occurred?	Right main gear unsafe (red transit light illuminated after recycling).
5.2	Why did the crew request holding instead of an immediate approach?	They are overweight for landing and need time for manual gear extension and fuel dumping.
5.3	What holding parameters were cleared by Zurich Approach?	Hold at GIPOL, 7,000 ft, standard right turns, inbound track 085° on QNH 1022.