ARLA/CLUSTER: Como o Alfabeto Fonetico Internacional nasceu.

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

How the phonetic alphabet emerged

It was 60 years ago that the International Civil Aviation Organisation
(ICAO) finalised the phonetic alphabet - sometimes also called the
NATO or North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alphabet.

Why do we have one?

It seems that sound-a-like letters such as M and N, D and B and
others, can be confusing. The idea of a phonetic alphabet is not new,
and earlier versions had other words.

For a time the Able, Baker alphabet, derived from WWII when the US air
force entered the war, hung around in aviation for years afterwards.

However civil aviation begun to suffer confusion in South America
where English words were not fully recognised. This is when NATO also
had another problem, with different phonetics used by each of the
army, navy and air force.

NATO had joint service exercises and different phonetics made it
harder to communicate between the services. As an agency of the United
Nations, everyone swung behind ICAO to create a standardised alphabet.

Its aim was to use English words common to all languages and
pronounced easily. Professor Jean-Paul Vinay, of linguistics expert at
the University of Montreal, was given the job which he finished in
1951.

It then faced resistance from some pilots who reverted to use the old phonetics.

However, after further work involving five minor changes and testing
by ICAO member countries, the final phonetic alphabetic we use today
began in 1956.

This is Victor Kilo Won-un Whiskey India Alpha

Jim Linton VK3PC