Plain English Meaning

When a pilot is flying by visual reference rather than on an instrument flight plan, ATC can call out other aircraft they see on radar that might be close. It's a heads-up, not a guarantee, and the pilot still has to look out the window for traffic.

Full Definition

A service provided by air traffic control to pilots flying under Visual Flight Rules in which the controller informs them about other aircraft observed on radar that may be near their flight path. The service is workload-permitting and does not relieve the pilot of the responsibility to see and avoid other traffic.

Context Anchor

You may encounter this term when talking with ATC during VFR flight following, , or -training discussions that show how controllers sequence and aircraft.