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When flying I almost always monitor GUARD, VHF 121.5 on my second communications radio. It's almost a daily occurrence that I hear someone transmit the words "work work work" or a long, theatrical "GUUARRDDD!" as a response to someone calling for a ramp taxi clearance on the wrong frequency.

It is interesting that these particular responses are so prevalent.

Has anyone studied this misuse of the guard frequency to determine if there might be a cultural source?

At least in my experience with the last decade of aviation, there hasn't until fairly recently but such common use of the guard frequency for communications which aren't pertinent to its purpose. Has the FAA taken any actions on pilots for misusing the guard frequency in the way mentioned in the first paragraph?

ryan1618
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    If you are going to vote to close, give me a comment and a chance to improve the question. – ryan1618 Apr 30 '17 at 14:37
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    I don't know if there's any good, authoritative answer here unless the FAA or someone else has ever conducted a study. IMO, some of the calls on guard are a mild form of trolling, you might look into what motivates trolls in general. But I'm sure there are other ways to look at it too, e.g. you might charitably say that some pilots are trying to use 'humor' to remind/guide/correct others. In other words, I have no idea :-) – Pondlife Apr 30 '17 at 15:10
  • I've had "transmitting on guard" whilst conduction a practice pan! Swiftly admonished by the D&D cell. (UK). – Simon Apr 30 '17 at 16:59
  • You can always edit your question, whether closed or open. At the moment, this seems to be about ready to be re-opened w/o any editing at all, though. The most important part would be knowing why it's being VtC'd (you should have enough rep to click the 'close' vote button to see what people are voting on to get a hint at it, at least.) – FreeMan May 01 '17 at 12:15

1 Answers1

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Every field has its bottom 2%, and some of ours regularly self-identify as such on 121.5.

Sigh.

The "work work work" refers to this video (start about 2:55 for the relevant section).

Ralph J
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    Was the downvote from someone who enjoys transmitting silly comments over the emergency frequency? Other explanation? – Ralph J May 01 '17 at 02:44
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    Maybe the DV is because when that YT video disappears, it will become meaningless text. Maybe at least give some identifying info so the video could be found again in the future. – FreeMan Jun 07 '22 at 14:59