Ask ATC: Am I Cleared for Class B?

Air traffic controllers "clear the air" regarding when and how you can enter Class Bravo airspace.

Ask ATC is produced in partnership with NATCA and the FAA.

[kyounotemawa]

Remember, VFR flight following does not exempt you from airspace rules. Let's say you are headed for Class-C airspace and Center tells you to contact approach control for that airspace. You call approach control, but they don't answer you right away (too busy, missed your call, etc.). Can you continue and enter Class-C? No. You have to establish 2-way communication with that facility. Same for Class-D.

[rehcyfm]

The “deck” to 13k feet isn’t the stratosphere it’s the troposphere

[XPLAlN]

Always reassuring to hear from ATC that no altitude is safe inside controlled airspace.

[usernameunknkown]

"Then clear me" has entered the chat

[juaninfante]

Great to hear controllers say this, and this is exactly what I was taught in training. However, I think that I lot of controllers need to hear this, too. In the Miami and Orlando area, on more than one occasion, I have been given vectors into class bravo without the magic words “cleared into bravo.” When I ask for clarification by querying “please confirm I’m cleared into bravo, ” the controllers have replied with a repetition of the vectors such as “maintain 310 and maintain 4000” and not infrequently with an IRRITATED tone. So, I am placed in the difficult position of asking for the instruction a third time when that controller is clearly busy with a lot of traffic and several people are struggling to get their call in on the frequency, and at least twice I have not been able to get my question in. So, in this situation, do I disobey the controller and fly a heading just to avoid class bravo (thus being compliant with regulations but not with the instructions received by the controller), or do I just fly the heading that the controller is expecting me to fly? The regulations seem clear to me (I need to hear the words), but everyone needs to do what is expected for the system to work. It would be great if controllers are reminded that they should automatically say those magic words when handling VFR traffic on flight following/traffic advisories to avoid confusion and to avoid the need for multiple calls from the same pilot.

[neoflyer]

Say you’re being vectored by approach control. They give you a heading that passes through Class C or D airspace. Do you need to get specific clearance to enter this airspace or is it only Class B that requires it?

[donh]

So, if I am on an IFR flight plan that carries me into/through Class B, do I need to hear the magic words "cleared into Bravo..."? I presume not, but I always inquire "ATC, please confirm that N12345 is cleared to enter Bravo airspace." just so there is no ambiguity.

[shader]

Student pilot here. How exactly do you request clearance into Bravo? I assume you have to tell them position, distance to class B, altitude, and then? “Request clearance into class Bravo?” But assume then they need to know your intended route through it or destination? Just exactly how does such a request go, your request and what they need of info, and what you will then get back from them along with clearance if the grant it? Asuming they always will give you a transpinder code, maybe ask for ident?

[beford]

“Yeah, but what if...” You know somebody is thinking that. 🙄

[mitchellputz]

You're on flight following, will the ATC automatically get you clearance when your flight path is taking you threw class B?

[aeroengguy]

Scenario: I'm on VFR flight following, approaching the edge of Class B, and my destination is on the other side not in Class B. If I request direct XXX, and the controller says "cleared direct XXX", is that a clearance to enter Class B airspace?

[khairlines]

Do airliners also need to ask for class b clearance bfore entering?

[tefamilyadventures]

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