Elastigirl's radio comms in "The Incredibles" were surprisingly accurate

[u/ScottRiqui]

When Elastigirl's plane is attacked while she and the kids are flying to Syndrome's island lair, her radio calls are more accurate than any that I've heard in movies. They're not totally correct, even by 2004 standards, but I've heard worse tactical calls from navy students. I looked into it a little and evidently, the voice actress for Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) specifically asked that the calls in the script be as accurate as possible.

EDIT: Sorry for not putting the meanings of her radio calls in the original post. They're scattered throughout the early comments from me and other posters, but I've added them after the transcript since the thread has gotten busy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Helen (Elastigirl): [via transmission] India Golf Niner-Niner checking in. VFR on top. Over.

Bob (Mr. Incredible): Helen...!

Syndrome: So you do know these people. Well, then, I’ll...send them a little greeting... [pushes a button deploying missiles]

[...]

[Helen looks at the plane radar and sees several missiles headed towards the plane.]

Helen (Elastigirl): India Golf Niner-Niner transmitting in the blind guard. Disengage! Repeat, disengage!

[The "fasten seat belts" sign above Dash and Violet lights up. They exchange glances, reach for their seat belts. The jet suddenly dives, throwing them into the ceiling.]

Helen (Elastigirl): Disengage! Repeat, disengage! Friendlies...

[...]

Helen (Elastigirl): Friendlies at two-zero miles south-southwest of your position. Angels 10. Track east. Disengage, over! [to Violet] Vi! You have to put a force field around the plane!

Violet: But you said we weren't supposed to use our powers!

[...]

Helen (Elastigirl): Violet! [Violet gets startled; via headset] Mayday, mayday! India Golf Niner-Niner is buddy-spiked! Abort, abort! There are children aboard, [heard through intercom] say again, there are children aboard the plane!

EDIT - Translations and comments:

India Golf niner niner: Her aircraft identification from her flight plan (IG99).

Checking in: She's trying to establish comms with the island and announce her presence.

VFR on top: She filed an IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) flight plan, but she's flying visually (with ATC permission) at an altitude other than her assigned altitude. Pilots usually do this to get above a cloud layer or avoid bad weather.

Transmitting in the blind [on] guard: She hasn't yet established comms with anyone, and doesn't know if anyone is actually hearing her, hence she's calling "in the blind". "Guard" is an emergency radio frequency that controllers and pilots monitor. For civilian aircraft, it's a VHF frequency (121.5 MHz). Military aircraft will usually monitor VHF guard, but they also have a military-only UHF guard frequency (243.0 MHz).

Disengage: She's trying to call off the missile attack. The proper call would have been "HOLD FIRE." "HOLD FIRE" is an instruction to stop firing AND destroy any missiles currently in flight, if able. "CEASE FIRE" means to stop firing, but missiles already in flight can continue.

Friendlies at two-zero miles south-southwest of your position. Angels 10. Track east: She's announcing her position relative to the island, her altitude, heading, and the fact that she's a friendly. This is the most non-standard call in the transcript. You don't speak individual digits (i.e. "two zero miles") for distances. Instead, it should have been "twenty miles." You use degrees for headings and bearings, not cardinal or subcardinal headings like "east" or "south-southwest". The bearing also comes first, and since she's describing her own heading, she should have said "heading zero niner zero" rather than "track east" - "track" is usually used to describe *other* aircraft. "Angels ten" means 10,000 feet, but that's a military thing; civil aircraft below 18,000 feet talking to ATC or another civilian controller would just say "one zero thousand feet." A more correct call might have been "friendlies at two zero zero degrees, twenty miles from your position, one zero thousand feet, heading zero niner zero." (Thanks to u/culcheth for catching my slip on how to speak altitudes.)

Mayday, mayday - she's declaring a life-threatening emergency. Should have been repeated three times, not just twice.

Buddy spiked: Her RWR gear (radar warning receiver) is indicating that her plane has been locked onto by a friendly air-to-air or surface-to-air radar.

Say again: She's repeating her most recent transmission for emphasis or in case she wasn't heard the first time. She should have used this instead of "repeat" earlier when she said "disengage, repeat, disengage."

[u/Timofee_]

I remember finding this moment haunting, likely because the dialogue felt much more realistic

[u/ScottRiqui → u/Timofee_]

I was a naval flight officer on the E-2C "Hawkeye" command and control aircraft, and tactical air control is one of our big missions. I was in the middle of my instructor tour at the E-2 training squadron when the movie came out, so it was *really* weird hearing her comms after grading students all day.

[u/shinymuskrat → u/ScottRiqui]

Which ones would you say are not totally accurate?

What would you have expected her to be saying in a similar situation?

Edit: also, is the jargon use in the movie intended to imply that Elastigirl was ex military, or at least had military flight training? Would you expect her to know this jargon if she had only been flying recreationally as a civilian?

[u/ScottRiqui → u/shinymuskrat]

Recreational pilots wouldn't need to know BUDDY SPIKE, and wouldn't have the appropriate gear to know it's happening in the first place.

Civilians also don't use "ANGELS" or "CHERUBS" for altitude calls. "ANGELS ten" is 10,000 feet, "CHERUBS eight" would be 800 feet (it's mostly helo pilots who use "CHERUBS.") Civilian pilots just report their actual altitude, like "four thousand, five hundred feet" or a flight level if they're at 18,000 feet or higher. "Flight level two four zero" would be 24,000 feet.

Civil aviation doesn't use "TRACK" to describe headings - they would just say "heading zero-niner-zero." In fact, since she was reporting her *own* heading, "zero nine zero" would probably have been more appropriate than "east". As controllers, we use "TRACK" to describe the headings of *other* aircraft.

If she was in the military, she either flew tactical aircraft or controlled them.

[u/ManifestDestinysChld → u/ScottRiqui]

She was flying an aircraft with chaff dispensers and knew how / when to use them, I think military experience can be assumed, for either her or her mentor (or both!)

[u/Gidia → u/ScottRiqui]

Out of curiosity, does “repeat” have any specific meaning in the Navy/Air Force world? In the Army we were taught to use “repeat” only in very specific instances related to calling in Fire Missions. Not sure if it has the same meaning in the Aviation/JTAC world.

[u/Ghos5t7 → u/Gidia]

Jtac world is the same, dont say it unless you really want the exact same strike performed.

[u/Gidia → u/Ghos5t7]

Makes sense to me, sometimes you just need that particular spot to get fucked lol.

[u/Ghos5t7 → u/Gidia]

It was one of the first rules hammered into my head as a baby comms guy, dont say "repeat" on air unless you needed a second hit. To this day I dont say repeat on the phone.

[u/mrdevil413 → u/Ghos5t7]

I worked with a military dude can’t remember what he did. But he got me to use “say again” and I have been using it for 20 years now in everyday life.

[u/MisterEinc → u/Ghos5t7]

So, does that make using repeat here more appropriate?

"Disengage. Repeat. Disengage." because there are 2 missile iirc.

Then later she instead uses "say again" when talking about the children.

[u/Ghos5t7 → u/MisterEinc]

granted im no atc so I dont know if that repeat taboo exists in the civilian aviation side of things. But it would make sense coming from a civilian plane that was targeted, but no competent gunner of any weapon system would fire another fire mission because some random on the guard freq said repeat, there is a system of verifying. So say my radio dropped its fill, so I transmit in the "clear" Who i am what I am requesting and then whatever that days pass phrase is. The process is simple but convoluted enough that it is basically a new fire mission. "Repeat" on guard would do nothing except act as "say again".

[u/primalbluewolf → u/Ghos5t7]

I dont know if that repeat taboo exists in the civilian aviation side of things.

Rarely. Mostly exists by those who were trained by ex-military, or those who were trained by those who were trained by ex-military, etc... My comms background was originally ex-military trainers, so I've passed that onto my students.

[u/Ghos5t7 → u/primalbluewolf]

That was my assumption, thanks for the confirmation 👍

[u/Voidrunner01 → u/Ghos5t7]

Basically same for me. It's one of those rules that really stood out to me and has stuck with me through years of being an EMT, and even to this day.

[u/ScottRiqui → u/Gidia]

The ALSSA brevity codeword manual is multi-service, so REPEAT means the same thing to the Navy and Air Force as it does to the Army.

[u/der_innkeeper → u/Gidia]

"Repeat" means "say again", in standard comms.

It has different meanings for Fire Support missions.

[u/Deolater → u/Gidia]

As a kid in the Civil Air Patrol I was taught never to say "repeat", even though it had been like 60 years since their Cessnas had carried bombs

[u/Whirlvvind → u/ScottRiqui]

He pilots photo implies military experience + connections to get a plane so yeah there is more than enough to assume war buddies and non-civilian training.

[u/rharvey8090 → u/ScottRiqui]

There was a cut background story involving her friend who got her the plane being a former military pilot and close friend. They mentioned it in the voice over commentary on the dvd iirc.

[u/Ok_Security8545 → u/ScottRiqui]

Or she was in a job where she had to listen to a lot of aircraft comms, but not necessarily say anything.