Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

4 Answers

Does an ATC record all the conversations?

Asked by: 8539 views FAA Regulations, Flight Instructor, General Aviation, Private Pilot, Student Pilot

I would like to ask for some of my conversations that I did when I flew and if they can give it for me.

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

4 Answers



  1. Mark Kolber on Aug 23, 2013

    They do record but they don’t necessarily keep them for very long without an administrative, investigatory or enforcement reason. I forget the timing offhand but I think it varies with the facility a bit.

    Getting them would require a FOIA request on your part, identifying which facility, when and where and what N-Number.

    OTOH, if the ATC facility is one with a feed, you might try the archives at LiveATC.net http://www.liveatc.net/archive.php

    +2 Votes Thumb up 2 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Bobby Roe on Aug 23, 2013

    I attended a pilot-controller briefing about 3 weeks ago where the controllers mentioned that their recordings are deleted after 45 days. I don’t know if that’s the standard for all ATC facilities, but for that particular Class C airport (clearance, ground, tower, approach, and departure), that was the retention rule.

    +3 Votes Thumb up 3 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Jim F. on Aug 23, 2013

    I’m also not 100% certain either, but that ’45 days’ Bobby mentioned is what was also in my head for some reason. Also, LiveATC is a great place, but will vary based on how the person set up the feed. For example, my airport (KSUS) feed includes ground, tower, and St. Louis approach. So, if someone is transmitting on approach and it’s recording, a transmission on tower may not be recorded, and vice-versa. The best way, in my opinion, is what I do and use a personal CVR. That way I get all intra-cockpit/cabin conversation as well as external transmissions.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  4. Andrew on Aug 24, 2013

    I’m a technician for the FAA and work on recording systems.

    We keep a copy of EVERYTHING the air traffic controller sees (radar) and hears/says (radio and telephone) for 45 days.

    After that, at least as far as FAA keeps locally, the data is recorded over. Some airports have the older tape recording equipment but that has been steadily replaced by the DALR voice recording systems which records on two mirrored hard drives and automatically records over after 45 days.

    I haven’t asked before but you might be able to sweet talk the head controller at the airport into cutting you a tape. But its a bit of a pain to download the data and convert it to be used on a regular PC. So you might have to buy lunch first.

    If you’re planning to use the recordings for grading your flying skill. I would suggest you get one of those action cameras with and audio input connected to the planes intercom or headset. Then you can see and hear how bad or good your doing.

    Happy Flying.

    +2 Votes Thumb up 2 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.