PLT552: Traffic Information Service
What code PLT552 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Traffic Information Service before your checkride.
Recall collision avoidance - TIS
What this means for your checkride
The Traffic Information Service (TIS) is a ground-based service that sends traffic information to the flight deck via data link using the transponder and altitude encoder. It improves the safety of see and avoid, but because of system limitations not all traffic is displayed, and some units show only a limited number of intruding targets within the service volume.
TIS aids collision avoidance but has limits, so pilots must know how it works and not rely on it to show all traffic.
TIS does not display every aircraft; it depends on transponder-equipped traffic and has service volume and target-count limits.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.