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FAA Transponder Requirements Explained

Pilot Institute

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has rules to keep air travel safe, and one big part of that is making sure airplanes have the right transponders. Transponders are an important part of an aircraft’s avionics system and help with tracking and safety. Key Takeaways Transponders aid ATC, safety, and tracking.

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Two A340s smuggled out of Lithuania and into Iran

Aerotime

After reaching Iranian airspace the two aircraft switched their transponders off and landed at two separate airports in the Middle Eastern country: Tehran’s Mehrabad (THR) and Chabahar Konarak Airport (ZBR). They managed to sneak away in February 2024 after declaring that they were departing for Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

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Boeing 737-400F destroyed after inflight fire and emergency landing in Brazil   

Aerotime

However, about five minutes before landing, radio contact was lost with the pilots, although the transponder continued to work normally which transmitted the aircraft’s height and position information to the air traffic controllers at Guarulhos Airport. The aircraft was directed towards runway 28L at Guarulhos for a priority landing.

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“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” – AeroTime’s guide to aviation emergency communications 

Aerotime

Nearly all aircraft are fitted with a piece of equipment called a transponder. An aircraft’s transponder (short for ‘ transmitter-responder ’) is an electronic device on an aircraft that transmits a four-digit code (commonly referred to as a ‘ squawk code ’) which allows the aircraft to be identified by ATC.

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Delta Air Lines 767-400 loses pressurization, makes emergency descent into Paris 

Aerotime

Having completed the oceanic crossing part of the journey, and as the flight crossed the English Channel at 20:55, the crew of DL266 reported a loss of cabin pressure and set the 7700 internationally recognized emergency code on the transponder.

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Airbus BelugaXL forced to make emergency landing in Amsterdam 

Aerotime

However, as the aircraft crossed the border between France and Belgium, the crew set 7700 on the aircraft’s transponder (indicating an inflight emergency) and requested an immediate descent and diversion to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) in the Netherlands, some 90 miles (144km) off the aircraft’s nose.

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Lol: Nigeria’s Azman Air Denies Smuggling Planes To Iran

One Mile at a Time

As soon as the plane entered Iranian airspace, its transponder was turned off, so it disappeared from flight tracking. So weve often seen shady companies without much history pick up some aircraft, and then send them to Iran in exactly this way, flying them in a convoy, turning off the transponders, and then having them land in Iran.