As the popularity of flight tracking has grown, each time an aircraft “squawks 7700,” thousands of users turn to Flightradar24 to follow the flight. As more users enable push notifications for these flights, their following has grown to push these flights to the top of our most tracks flights list any time they occur. But has the actual number of squawk 7700 events increased?
What is Squawking 7700?
The phrase “squawking 7700” comes from the universal transponder code for “General Emergency.” All aircraft broadcast a four digit “squawk code” assigned by air traffic control. There are three universal codes established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that all aviators use to communicate in specific circumstances.
7500 — Aircraft hijacking
7600 — Communications/radio failure
7700 — General emergency
The squawk codes are used to quickly communicate the needs of the aircraft to air traffic control. We have dedicated posts on what pilots and air traffic controllers are doing when an aircraft squawks 7700 elsewhere on our blog. It is important to note that squawking 7700 only indicates a problem in need to immediate attention, not necessarily one that is an immediate danger to the aircraft. Conversely, aircraft with a major problem do not necessarily squawk 7700. If the aircraft are already in close contact with air traffic control, squawking 7700 to alert them to the problem may be unnecessary. For instance, the pilots of Alaska Airlines 1282 did not squawk 7700 as they were already in communication with ATC and were easily able to request a return to the airport after the exit door plug blew out.
How often do aircraft squawk 7700?
We looked at approximately 14 months of data from the end of December 2022 to the middle of March 2024. During that period of time, the number of 7700 events per week averaged 36. The maximum number of events was 67 during the week of 12 October, the minimum number was 19 during the second week of March 2024. The single day with the greatest number of squawk 7700 alerts was 12 October 2023, with 18.
How does that compare to the total number of flights?
Each week, depending on the time of the year, Flightradar24 tracks between 10 million and 17 million flights per week. The greatest number of flights take place during the northern hemisphere summer season. When looking at the number of flights that experience a squawk 7700 event in that context, its possible to see just how rare it is.
Following flights squawking 7700
Flightradar24 offers push alerts for all our app users for squawk 7700 events, as well as squawk 7600 events. To receive squawk 7700 alerts, tap Alerts in the bottom menu bar in the Flightradar24 app and swipe to enable the alert.
