"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
hlink.net...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...

For a runway like "3" it might make sense to use the leading zero,
simply to avoid confusion with runway "30" -- but for higher numbers I
guess it's dumb, now that I think about it.


How does use of a leading zero avoid confusion with lower runway numbers?

It adds some redundancy. If there's both a 3 and a 30, and the tower says
"cleared to land runway three zero" but gets blocked right after saying
"three", a US pilot might head for the wrong runway. Under the ICAO rules,
however, the pilot would know that "runway three" is not a correct
designation.

--Gary