Squawk codes: what 7700, 7600, 7500 and 1200 mean

What does squawk 7700 mean?

Squawk 7700 is the transponder code for a general emergency. A pilot sets it, or a controller asks for it, when a flight needs priority: an engine problem, a pressurization fault, a bird strike, a sick passenger. Every radar screen in range highlights the aircraft at once, so controllers can clear a path and a runway. Most flights that squawk 7700 land safely.

What happens after a plane squawks 7700?

Controllers give the flight what it needs: a direct route, a lower altitude, the runway the crew asks for. Fire and rescue crews may wait beside the runway as a precaution. The flight might divert or carry on to where it was going. On trackers the code usually changes back once the aircraft has landed or the problem is under control.

What does squawk 7600 mean?

7600 means the crew has lost two-way radio contact with air traffic control. The aircraft keeps flying normally and follows the FAA's published lost-communication rules for route and altitude, so controllers can predict where it will go and keep other traffic clear. Radio failures are usually technical and short-lived, and many end with contact restored before landing.

What does squawk 7500 mean?

7500 tells controllers the aircraft is under unlawful interference, such as a hijacking, without anyone saying so on the radio. Genuine cases are very rare. Many 7500 sightings on public trackers turn out to be a wrong entry corrected within minutes. For security, we show a 7500 only 30 minutes after we first see it, and we never speculate about a flight.

Is squawk 7700 the same as a mayday?

Not quite. A mayday is a spoken distress call on the radio; 7700 is a code the transponder sends to radar. Both declare an emergency, and crews often use both. Setting 7700 takes seconds and alerts every controller in range at once, so some crews do it first. A 7700 does not mean a crash is likely. It means the flight gets priority.

What do 1200, 7000, 7400 and 7777 mean?

1200 is the standard US code for aircraft flying under visual flight rules without a code from air traffic control: small private planes, training flights, many helicopters. Europe and most other ICAO countries use 7000 for the same job. Neither says anything about an emergency.

7400 is for uncrewed aircraft (drones) that have lost their control link, so controllers know it may fly a preset route. 7777 is reserved in the US for military interceptor operations, and the FAA tells civil pilots never to use it. You will rarely see either on a public tracker.

How do squawk codes work?

A squawk code is four digits, each from 0 to 7, which gives 4,096 possible codes. Controllers give each flight a code so its radar label matches the right aircraft. The transponder replies with the code whenever radar asks, and aircraft with ADS-B also broadcast it openly about once a second. That open broadcast is how public trackers, this one included, can show emergency codes.

How often do planes squawk 7700?

In our coverage area, since our log began on 4 November 2026, we saw 13 aircraft squawk 7700, 13 squawk 7600 and 2 squawk 7500, as of 14:20 UTC, 15 November 2026. Counts are sightings, not confirmed incidents: a code set by mistake for a minute counts too.

Emergency squawks seen each day this week

• Mon, Nov 91
• Tue, Nov 103
• Wed, Nov 110
• Thu, Nov 126
• Fri, Nov 134
• Sat, Nov 142
• Sun, Nov 150

How we spot emergency squawks

Every two minutes our server reads the aircraft the live map already holds: a worldwide feed of ADS-B positions, and the list of military aircraft that broadcast openly. Any aircraft sending 7500, 7600 or 7700, or the matching emergency status in its ADS-B message, goes on the live list and into our log. Priority statuses such as minimum fuel or a medical flight are left out.

Limits: coverage is thin over oceans and remote land; aircraft whose owners opted out of public display (FAA LADD, Privacy ICAO Address) are never shown; a 7500 waits 30 minutes; and a code can be set by mistake. We don't know why a crew declared an emergency, and we don't guess.