Tower 101: LUAW, takeoff and landing clearances
Runway 27, line up and wait — position, no takeoff roll.Launch:
Wind 270 at 8, runway 27, cleared for takeoff.Recover:
Wind 270 at 8, runway 27, cleared to land — issued in short
final, after your departure is airborne, never before.
The tower position is one runway and two queues fighting for it. Everything you transmit does one of three things: stages an aircraft, launches it, or recovers one. The words are strict because the failure mode isn't a bad grade — it's two aircraft on the same concrete.
Line up and wait — staging, not launching
LUAW puts the departure on the runway, ready, while you wait for something — usually the previous departure to be airborne or an arrival to clear. Three rules make it safe:
- Always with the runway number, and the pilot reads back “line up and wait runway two seven” — “position and hold” died in 2010, don't resurrect it.
- An aircraft in LUAW owns the runway. Landing clearances on that runway are frozen until it rolls or clears. Our sim tracks this geometrically — clear an arrival onto an occupied runway and it's a severe.
- Never forget them. The deadliest scenario in tower history is a forgotten LUAW at night with an arrival on final. If you stage someone, your next transmission should already be planned.
The takeoff clearance — with the wind
“Cleared for takeoff” — those exact words, nothing else launches an aircraft (“cleared takeoff” costs you phraseology points here, because it costs readback ambiguity in the real world). The wind check isn't decoration: the pilot makes the final rotation decision with it. Give it with every takeoff and landing clearance.
The landing clearance — short final, runway stated
Two habits separate trainees from controllers:
- The runway number is part of the clearance. “Cleared to land” without a runway invites the wrong-runway landing — the most common serious pilot deviation on record.
- Sequence: departure first, then the landing clearance. A real tower launches the departure while the arrival is still a few miles out, then clears the arrival in short final. Clearing the landing early and squeezing a takeoff underneath it is backwards — our auto-controller follows the correct order, and so should you.
Go-around instructions
Runway still occupied, spacing gone, or no landing clearance issued in time — two words, immediately, no explanation needed on the first transmission. The aircraft climbs, rejoins the pattern, and you fix the sequence you broke. In the sim an uncleared arrival goes around on its own at short final, and it's on your debrief; send a priority (medical) arrival around and it's graded severe.
Quick reference
| Situation | Transmission | Trap |
|---|---|---|
| Departure ready, runway about to be free | Runway 27, line up and wait | Forgetting them there |
| Runway free, no close final | Wind + runway 27, cleared for takeoff | Traffic on short final = graded conflict |
| Arrival in short final, runway free | Wind + runway 27, cleared to land | Missing runway number |
| Arrival close, departure not rolling yet | Hold the departure — or go around | Hoping it fits |
| Runway won't be clear in time | Go around | Waiting one transmission too long |
Common mistakes
- Takeoff or landing clearance without the runway number — heavy point loss, every time.
- “Cleared takeoff” — the FAA form is “cleared for takeoff”.
- Takeoff clearance with traffic on short final, same runway — flagged as a conflict, exactly as a facility review would.
- No wind check with a takeoff/landing clearance — small bonus when you give it, bad habit when you don't.
Related guides: taxi instructions & runway crossings · the CRAFT clearance · how to write an ATIS
Practise Tower at KSAN
ProjectATC gives you live departures and arrivals fighting for one strip of concrete — LUAW, wind checks, go-arounds, priority medicals — and grades every transmission against FAA phraseology.
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