The Aircraft Signals NATOPS manual, explained

The Aircraft Signals NATOPS Manual, NAVAIR 00-80T-113, is the Navy's standard for the hand signals and lighted wand signals used to move, launch, and recover aircraft. The general NATOPS manual, CNAF M-3710.7, says the instructions and use of plane handling signals appear in that manual and directs all naval activities to comply with them. The manual itself is posted on the NAVAIR Airworthiness website, and no official public copy was found, but the Naval Safety Command publishes three public charts drawn from it, and Navy stories describe the people who use the signals and how they learn them. This page covers the manual's place in NATOPS, why a flight deck runs on signals, the yellow shirt and the other roles that signal, the day signals and the night wands, the Landing Signalman Enlisted, and the relationship to the carrier manuals. Readers new to the program should start with what NATOPS is.

What NAVAIR 00-80T-113 is

CNAF M-3710.7, dated February 7, 2025, places the manual in two spots. Paragraph 7.1.2.6, on taxiing, requires a qualified taxi director to attend an aircraft taxiing near obstructions or other aircraft, and then says: "Instructions and use of plane handling signals appear in NAVAIR 00-80T-113," and in posters and pamphlets issued by the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). All naval activities are directed to comply with these instructions. Appendix C, the list of directives referenced in the manual, gives the title as Aircraft Signals NATOPS Manual, beside NAVAIR 00-80T-112, the NATOPS Instrument Flight Manual, and NAVAIR 00-80T-114, the NATOPS Air Traffic Control Manual.

The same reference has been in the general instruction for years. The 2009 edition, OPNAVINST 3710.7U, dated November 23, 2009, lists NAVAIR 00-80T-113, Aircraft Signals NATOPS Manual, as reference (ac). The number and the title have not changed across the instruction and the CNAF manual that replaced it.

CNAF M-3710.7 does not say which category of NATOPS product the signals manual is. Paragraph 2.3.2 defines a General Series manual as one issued for special aviation-related operations or systems that require fleet-wide standardization, and names Aircraft Refueling NATOPS, CV NATOPS, and LSO NATOPS as examples. The manual is maintained like every NATOPS product, with the NAVAIR Airworthiness and CYBERSAFE Office as the NATOPS Products Administrator and release authority for interim changes, and with every user obligated under paragraph 2.5 to submit a change recommendation when they find an error.

The manual's reach extends beyond the flight deck. The taxiing paragraph that cites it is a general rule for naval aircraft, and the Naval Safety Command's first chart covers fixed-wing general aircraft handling signals. The Navy's aviation safety manual, OPNAV M-3750.6, dated October 24, 2024, lists the carrier, amphibious ship, and air-capable ship NATOPS manuals among its references, and the flight deck handling chart labels its elevator and refueling signals for CVN, LHA/LHD, and air-capable ships.

Why a flight deck runs on hand signals

Two Navy stories give the reason. A Navy story on Aviation Boatswain's Mates (Handling), From Blue to Yellow, says Landing Signalman Enlisted School is a requirement for yellow shirts on the flight deck in order to learn the proper hand signals to give pilots during launch and recovery, "as it is the primary means of communication during flight operations." A Navy story on the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, Starlight Flights, says that because of the noise on deck, yellow shirts use hand signals to communicate with pilots and other Sailors on the flight deck.

The Tripoli story also shows the signals as one layer of a visual language. Hand signals, it says, are not the only means of visual communication on the flight deck; the crew relies on deck lighting that shows the status of the deck and where aircraft need to go, and those cues help the pilots too. Primary flight control, the tower above the deck, watches with night vision goggles but still has to rely on the yellow shirts below to say what is happening. The ship's safety officer is quoted saying visibility at night is limited even from the tower.

A U.S. Central Command story from USS Nimitz, The Flight Deck Choreographers, dated August 7, 2017, states the stakes: yellow shirts are directly responsible for the handling and maneuvering of aircraft and the safety of all personnel during flight operations, and any mistake or lapse in judgment can damage equipment or injure people. One director quoted in the story says yellow shirts direct people as well as aircraft, and that anyone needing guidance on the flight deck looks for a yellow shirt.

The yellow shirt and the roles that signal

The yellow shirt is the Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling), or ABH, qualified as an aircraft director. The Navy's ABH story says a qualified yellow shirt is an aircraft director able to direct aircraft without being shadowed by a seasoned qualified yellow shirt. The Tripoli story lists the jobs: yellow shirts serve as aircraft directors, shooters, and landing signalmen enlisted; they guide aircraft while taxiing, give launch signals, guide aircraft back on deck during recovery, and are in charge of any additional aircraft movements on the flight deck.

Yellow is not the only color that signals. The Naval Safety Command's flight deck handling chart is organized by who signals whom, and the pairs are deck crew as often as pilots. Under Arrested Landing Signals, the gear puller signals the arresting gear officer, the hook runner signals the gear puller, and the gear puller signals the deckedge operator and the pilot. Under Aircraft Elevator Signals, the elevator safety petty officer or director signals the elevator operator. The catapult chart adds the catapult officer signaling the pilot, the catapult crew, the deckedge operator, and the director, and a catapult observer who uses a green wand. The CENTCOM story describes the blue shirts, the junior ABHs who chock and chain aircraft, run elevators, and drive tractors while they work toward the yellow jersey. The post on flight deck jersey colors maps each color to its job, and the post on catapults and arresting gear covers the green-shirt teams the signals direct.

The ABH story describes how the authority is earned. Everyone starts as a blue shirt and must earn Flight Deck Observer and Plane Handler qualifications, pass tests and boards, and gain the trust of the chain of command. A Sailor ready for the yellow jersey becomes an under-instruction (UI) yellow shirt, shadowed by an experienced yellow shirt who ensures they are making the right calls when directing aircraft. One UI yellow shirt quoted in the story lists the duties: getting the flight plan, briefing the work center, and directing, parking, and spotting aircraft under supervision.

Day signals, and the public charts that show them

The Naval Safety Command posts three charts that put the manual's signals in public. Each is a table with columns for the signal, its day execution, its night execution, and remarks, or for the flight deck chart, who signals whom and how. Each chart ends with the same line: refer to NAVAIR 00-80T-113.

Hand Signals Chart 1 is titled Fixed Wing General Aircraft Handling Signals and also begins the Helicopter and Vertical Take-Off (VTO) Aircraft Handling Signals. Several of its entries carry the remark "Conforms to ICAO," the International Civil Aviation Organization standard, which marks the signals a Navy director shares with a civil marshaller. Others are naval: the chart carries lower hook and raise hook signals, brakes signals, a fire signal, a cut engine or emergency signal, and refueling probe signals whose remarks say the pilot extends or actuates the probe. One remark notes that the same signal is used for an air start unit, with two fingers by day. In the helicopter section, the wave-off signal is marked mandatory.

Hand Signals Chart 2 continues the helicopter and VTO signals and adds Launching Signals for the catapult under a Flight Deck Handling Signals heading. The helicopter entries include an emergency breakaway in which the Landing Signalman Enlisted or director makes the waveoff signal, which the chart marks as mandatory; a tiedowns-removed signal in which a crew member holds the tiedown and chocks out to the side and, at night, lights the tiedown with an amber flashlight; and a signal in which the pilot swings the arms apart with thumbs extended outward. Remarks say the air officer signals authority to engage rotors and to launch helicopters by lighting a rotating beacon. The launching entries run from the catapult officer to the pilot, the catapult crew, the deckedge operator, and the director, and include a taking tension signal, the "untension" and "throttle back" signals, a suspend signal, and a signal after which the pilot releases brakes and applies power in accordance with the aircraft NATOPS manual.

Hand Signals Chart 3 is titled Flight Deck Handling Signals and has six groups: arrested landing signals, aircraft elevator signals for CVN and LHA/LHD ships, flight deck aircraft refueling signals for carriers, amphibious ships, and air-capable ships, safing signals, aircraft tow tractor signals, and aircraft deck handling signals. The director's reverse thrust taxi signal to a pilot is palms facing the aircraft at eye level with a pushback motion; for turns, the director points in the direction the tail is to move. The gear puller's clear deck signal to the arresting gear officer is an arm swept from overhead to the side and back, made simultaneously with the arresting gear officer. The elevator safety petty officer raises both index fingers at chest level, close together, to raise the safety stanchions and lowers them to lower the stanchions; fully extended arms with index fingers pointing up or down raise or lower the elevator.

Night signals with wands

Each chart's night column answers the question searchers ask about night signals. The common entry is "Same as day signal with addition of wands," and the fixed-wing chart repeats it or a variant for most of its rows. Where the night signal differs, it is usually the color or type of wand. On the flight deck chart, the gear puller's signal to the arresting gear officer is the same as day except with an amber wand, the crossed-arms signal becomes crossed amber wands held overhead, the hook runner's signal to the gear puller uses a red stubby wand, and the gear puller's signal to the deckedge operator uses two amber wands. The elevator signals at night are the day signals made with wands pointed up or down. In the launching signals, the suspend signal uses a red wand, the final launch signal raises a green wand, and the catapult observer uses a green wand. In the helicopter section, the pilot's night signal to remove chocks and tiedowns is on and off signals at 1-second intervals with a hand-held light or flashlight.

The Tripoli story gives the operator's view. Aside from the deck lighting, it says, the lighted hand wands the yellow shirts use to signal pilots and crew are another source of light during night operations. An aircraft director quoted in the story said that learning to communicate with wands feels confusing at first but is actually easier: "The vocabulary with wands is smaller," and the signals are easier to see farther down the flight deck. The story records the ship moving its flight operations into darkness with the aircraft of a Marine F-35B squadron embarked, and a pilot describing the ship at night as lights suspended in space.

The Landing Signalman Enlisted

The Landing Signalman Enlisted, or LSE, is the signalman in the Naval Safety Command's helicopter and VTO signals, and a qualification within the ABH rate. A DVIDS story from USS Boxer, posted in December 2023, describes the LSE as the quarterback of the flight deck during flight operations. The LSE must ensure that, on signal, aircraft are safely started, engaged, armed, launched, recovered, disarmed, and shut down, and that all tie-downs are removed before lift-off and secured after landing. The LSE works under the supervision of the Air Office and signals pilots flying anything from an MH-60S to an F-35C or an AH-1Z, which the story says makes the job on an amphibious ship heavier than on other ships.

The training path is specific. Trainees first attend a week-long LSE School, where they learn the basics, hand signals, safety precautions, and situational awareness. After the school they shadow a qualified LSE under instruction until they can master the craft, and when ready they complete a board with their chain of command covering everything they have learned. An MH-60S pilot quoted in the story says the LSE gives him peace of mind to perform his job safely, and that the complexity behind every call and hand signal is vast.

The same school appears in the carrier story. The Navy's ABH story says Landing Signalman Enlisted School is a requirement for yellow shirts on the flight deck. The Tripoli story lists landing signalmen enlisted among the yellow shirt's jobs. The helicopter signals mark the LSE's wave-off as mandatory. The school teaches hand signals, the charts post the Navy's signals and refer to 00-80T-113, and the board tests what the LSE has learned.

How the signals manual relates to the CV NATOPS manual

The signals manual does not stand alone. CNAF M-3710.7 lists the CV NATOPS Manual as its example of a General Series manual, and OPNAV M-3750.6 gives its number as NAVAIR 00-80T-105, alongside NAVAIR 00-80T-120, the CVN Flight/Hangar Deck NATOPS Manual, NAVAIR 00-80T-106 for LHA/LHD ships, and NAVAIR 00-80T-122 for air-capable ships. The flight deck handling chart labels its signal groups by ship type, such as elevator signals for CVN and LHA/LHD ships and refueling signals for carriers, amphibious ships, and air-capable ships. A separate post covers the CV NATOPS manual.

A third layer is the aircraft's own NATOPS flight manual. One launching signal says the pilot releases brakes and applies power in accordance with the aircraft NATOPS manual, and CNAF M-3710.7 paragraph 7.1.2.4, on helicopters and tiltrotors, says aircraft security requirements such as tiedowns, chocks, and parking brakes shall be in accordance with the applicable NATOPS.

The safety program closes the loop. The chapter on hazard reports in OPNAV M-3750.6 says everyone associated with naval aviation has an obligation to report hazards, and the manual tasks the Commander, Naval Safety Command with maintaining membership on NATOPS boards and councils. Any change to the signals manual itself follows the NATOPS change process in chapter 2 of CNAF M-3710.7.

What public Navy material shows the signals

For a reader who needs to see the signals rather than read about them, the public record has three kinds of material. The Naval Safety Command charts are the public documents found for this page that reproduce the signals in table form, with day and night executions and the manual reference. Navy and DVIDS stories such as the Tripoli, Nimitz, Boxer, and ABH stories describe the roles, the training, and the wands, and carry photographs of directors signaling. And CNAF M-3710.7 and OPNAVINST 3710.7U establish the manual's authority and its number.

What the public record does not contain is the manual itself or its edition date. No official public copy was found, so this page does not state when NAVAIR 00-80T-113 was last revised, and it does not cite copies posted on file-sharing sites, whose edition and completeness cannot be checked. The charts carry no date either. A reader who needs the current signal set should work from the manual on the Airworthiness website and treat the charts as the Navy's public summary of it.

What to check

• Does a poster, training aid, or manual page attribute a signal to NAVAIR 00-80T-113, the document CNAF M-3710.7 names, or to an unnamed source?
• Does the signal have a night execution, and does the wand color match the Naval Safety Command chart: amber for the gear puller, red stubby for the hook runner, red for catapult suspend, green for the final launch signal?
• Is the signal one the charts mark as conforming to ICAO, or one they do not, such as lower hook or catapult taking tension?
• Who signals whom? The flight deck handling chart lists pairs of deck crew as well as director to pilot.
• Is a detail aircraft-specific? The launching signals send the pilot to the aircraft NATOPS manual for the power to apply.
• Has the Sailor giving the signal completed Landing Signalman Enlisted School, which Navy stories call a requirement for yellow shirts and LSEs?

Azcuna's ELLMENT, the E-2D Large Language Model Entity, was proposed to NAVAIR PMA-231 under Navy SBIR Phase I topic DON26BZ01-NV010. The prototype, built at private expense on publicly available doctrine, answers with a page-level citation and refuses when the documents do not support an answer. The proposal has been submitted.

Questions people ask

What is NAVAIR 00-80T-113?

NAVAIR 00-80T-113 is the Aircraft Signals NATOPS Manual, the Navy's standard for the hand and wand signals used to handle aircraft. CNAF M-3710.7, the NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions Manual dated February 7, 2025, lists it under that title in Appendix C and says in paragraph 7.1.2.6 that instructions and use of plane handling signals appear in it and in posters and pamphlets issued by the Chief of Naval Operations. All naval activities are directed to comply.

Why do flight deck crews use hand signals?

Noise. A Navy story on USS Tripoli says that because of the noise on deck, yellow shirts use hand signals to communicate with pilots and other Sailors on the flight deck. A Navy story on Aviation Boatswain's Mates says hand signals are the primary means of communication during flight operations, which is why yellow shirts must attend Landing Signalman Enlisted School to learn the proper signals to give pilots during launch and recovery.

Who gives hand signals on an aircraft carrier flight deck?

The yellow shirts, Aviation Boatswain's Mates (Handling) qualified as aircraft directors, give many of them. A Navy story on USS Tripoli says yellow shirts serve as aircraft directors, shooters, and landing signalmen enlisted, guide aircraft while taxiing, give launch signals, and guide aircraft back on deck during recovery. The Naval Safety Command's flight deck handling chart shows signals passed between deck crew as well: gear puller to arresting gear officer, hook runner to gear puller, and elevator safety petty officer to elevator operator.

What are the flight deck hand signals at night?

The same signals given with lighted wands. The Naval Safety Command's charts give a night execution for each signal, commonly same as day signal with addition of wands. Some change the wand color: the gear puller's signal to the arresting gear officer uses an amber wand, and the hook runner's signal to the gear puller a red stubby wand. Catapult launching signals use red and green wands. A Tripoli aircraft director said the wand vocabulary is smaller and easier to see down the deck.

What is a Landing Signalman Enlisted?

Landing Signalman Enlisted, or LSE, is a qualification within the Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) rate. A DVIDS story from USS Boxer says the LSE signals the pilots flying the aircraft and must ensure that, on signal, aircraft are safely started, engaged, armed, launched, recovered, disarmed, and shut down, and that tie-downs are removed before lift-off and secured after landing. Trainees attend a week-long LSE School, shadow a qualified LSE under instruction, then pass a board with their chain of command.

Are Navy aircraft hand signals the same as civilian marshalling signals?

Some are. The Naval Safety Command's fixed-wing general aircraft chart marks several signals with the remark that they conform to ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization standard. Many others carry no such remark, including the signals for raise hook and lower hook, catapult taking tension and suspend, arrested landing, aircraft elevators on CVN and LHA/LHD ships, and flight deck refueling. CNAF M-3710.7 makes NAVAIR 00-80T-113 the governing document for naval activities.

Where can I see the Navy flight deck hand signals?

The Naval Safety Command posts three public charts: Chart 1 for fixed-wing general aircraft and the first helicopter and vertical take-off signals, Chart 2 for the rest of the helicopter signals and catapult launching signals, and Chart 3 for flight deck handling signals. Each gives day and night executions and ends by referring the reader to NAVAIR 00-80T-113. The manual itself is posted on the NAVAIR Airworthiness website, and no official public copy was found.

How does the Aircraft Signals manual relate to the CV NATOPS manual?

CNAF M-3710.7 names the CV NATOPS Manual as its example of a General Series manual and cites NAVAIR 00-80T-113 for plane handling signals. OPNAV M-3750.6 lists the carrier manuals as NAVAIR 00-80T-105 and 00-80T-120. On the Naval Safety Command's launching signals, one entry says the pilot releases brakes and applies power in accordance with the aircraft NATOPS manual, so the chart itself points to a third document.

How does a Sailor become a yellow shirt?

A Navy story on Aviation Boatswain's Mates says everyone starts as a blue shirt and must earn Flight Deck Observer and Plane Handler qualifications, then become an under-instruction yellow shirt shadowed by a qualified director who checks every call. Landing Signalman Enlisted School is required to learn the hand signals. A CENTCOM story from USS Nimitz says blue shirts chock and chain aircraft, run elevators, and drive tractors while they qualify.

Sources

1. 1CNAF M-3710.7, NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions Manual (February 7, 2025) · Commander, Naval Air Forces, hosted by Navy Medicine (Naval Aerospace Medical Institute)
2. 2OPNAVINST 3710.7U, NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions (November 23, 2009) · Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, hosted by Headquarters Marine Corps Aviation
3. 3Hand Signals Chart 1: Fixed Wing General Aircraft · Naval Safety Command
4. 4Hand Signals Chart 2: Helicopter and Vertical Take-Off Aircraft, Catapult Signals · Naval Safety Command
5. 5Hand Signals Chart 3: Flight Deck Handling Signals · Naval Safety Command
6. 6From Blue to Yellow: The Life of an ABH · U.S. Navy
7. 7Starlight Flights: USS Tripoli and its Embarked Aircraft Go Nocturnal · USS Tripoli (LHA 7) Public Affairs, U.S. Navy
8. 8The Flight Deck Choreographers · U.S. Central Command (August 7, 2017)
9. 9Up in the Air: Landing Signalman Enlisted qualifications keep the deck moving safely · USS Boxer (LHD 4), via DVIDS (December 2023)
10. 10OPNAV M-3750.6, Naval Aviation Safety Program (October 24, 2024) · Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, hosted by Naval Safety Command

Where this shows up in our work

• ELLMENT, the offline LLM for E-2D crews answers a crew's question from the aircraft's own manuals and cites the page, with no network.
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