SQUAWK
Aviation term · 6 letters
PilotWord No. 2 · the daily word on July 11, 2026
Definition
The four-digit number a pilot sets on the transponder so ATC can pick that aircraft out of every other blip on radar. FAA regulations (14 CFR § 91.215) require most aircraft to carry one.
Did you know?
Squawk codes can’t contain the numbers 8 or 9. Each digit only goes from 0 to 7, because the earliest transponders encoded every digit using 3 bits, and 3 bits can only make 8 values. So a code like 8500 can’t exist, even though it looks almost identical to 7500, the real hijack code. (Source: Airlabs)