If you’ve ever watched airplanes taking off and landing at an airport, you may recall seeing numbers painted on the tail or the back of the fuselage near the tail. Known as tail numbers, they are essential identifiers in the aviation industry. For a better understanding of tail numbers and what they mean, keep reading.
What Are Tail Numbers?
Tail numbers consist of a unique numerical string that’s used to identify civil aircraft. All civil aircraft, as well as many military aircraft, have a tail number. It serves as an identifier. Air Traffic Controllers and other individuals can easily identify civil aircraft by their tail number.
Tail Number Format
The format in which tail numbers are created varies from country to country. With that said, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) assigns a specific prefix to each country. In the United States, tail numbers begin with the letter number. Therefore, tail numbers found on civil aircraft in the United States typically look like “N654321.”
Other countries use different prefixes for their respective tail numbers. In the United Kingdom, for instance, tail numbers begin with the letter “G.” In Australia, tail numbers begin with the letters “VH.” Regardless of country, all tail numbers function as identifiers. The ICAO simply assigns specific tail number prefixes based on the country.
The Purpose of Tail Numbers
Tail numbers are the equivalent of license plates for civil aircraft. Just like no two cars have the exact same license plate, no two civil aircraft have the same tail number.
Air Traffic Controllers use tail numbers to track aircraft. They can see which aircraft are preparing to land and where they are located. They can also use tail numbers to distinguish between individual airplanes — even if those airplanes are part of the same fleet.
It’s not uncommon for airplanes to share similar call signs. Tail numbers, though, are completely unique. As previously mentioned, no two aircraft have the same tail number. Therefore, they make it easy for Air Traffic Controllers and other individuals to track aircraft.
Tail numbers are also used in emergencies. Officials can refer to an airplane’s tail number to quickly identify aircraft in the event of an emergency.
Aircraft have tail numbers for legal reasons. In the United States, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) requires civil aircraft to have a tail number that matches its registration. This ensures compliance with airworthiness and maintenance regulations.
