The Aircraft Table

Summary: A sortable list of the aircraft in view, along the bottom of the map – what each column shows, sorting, distances from your location, and how it behaves on phones.

The aircraft table lists every aircraft in the part of the map you can see, like the side table on other flight trackers, without adding anything to what the map downloads. It’s off by default, so the map stays uncluttered until you want it.

Opening and Closing It

• Click the table button (the list icon) in the button stack on the right of the map. The same button closes it again, as does the × at the top of the table.
• Opening it slides the map up by half the table’s height, so whatever you were looking at stays in view rather than disappearing behind the table. Closing it puts the map back.
• It only appears while Live Flights is switched on.
• The map remembers whether you left it open, how tall you made it and how you sorted it, along with your other map settings.

What It Lists

Only the aircraft in the part of the map that’s on your screen, above the table. Pan, zoom, or drag the table taller or shorter, and the list changes to match. It also follows the Live Flights filters: altitude bands, Military Only and the military type filters, any search, and the Equipment chip (tower transponders, airport vehicles and obstacles are left out unless it is on). The line at the top shows how many aircraft are in view out of the total being tracked, for example 302 in view of 563. The list refreshes every couple of seconds.

The Columns

• Country – a two-letter code for the country the aircraft is registered in, worked out from its transponder address. Hover over it for the full name. This is where the aircraft is registered, not who operates it.
• Callsign – with the airline’s logo for airline flights. Military callsigns are shown in amber.
• Reg – the registration.
• Type – the aircraft type code with a small silhouette. Hover over it for the full aircraft name.
• Operator – who flies it: for military aircraft the service or unit where known, otherwise the operator or the airline worked out from the callsign.
• Squawk – the transponder code; emergency codes are shown in red.
• Alt – altitude in feet, or GND on the ground, with a green ▲ when climbing or an orange ▼ when descending.
• Speed – ground speed in knots.
• Dist – distance in nautical miles from your location (see below).

Sorting and Using the Rows

• Click a column heading to sort by it; click it again to reverse the order. Your choice is remembered.
• Until you pick a column yourself, the table lists the nearest aircraft first when it has a location to measure from, and the highest first when it doesn’t.
• Click a row to select that aircraft and open its info panel – see Reading the Aircraft Info Panel.
• Hover over a row to make that aircraft glow on the map, so you can see where it is.
• Drag the top edge of the table to make it taller or shorter.

Distances and Your Location

Distances are measured from your radar location if you’ve set one (see Aircraft Radar View). If you haven’t:

• If your browser already lets the site use your location, the table uses it straight away, and the top line says distances from this device.
• Otherwise the top line shows a Use my location for distances button. Your browser only asks permission when you click it.
• Pressing My Location on the map also gives the table your position, and offers to save it as your radar location so it’s remembered next time.

Your device’s position is only used on the page to work out distances. It isn’t saved or sent anywhere unless you choose to save it as your radar location.

Auto Select: Following the Nearest Aircraft

The Auto Select button at the top of the table opens the information panel for the aircraft closest to you and moves on to the next one as it takes over, so the panel keeps showing what is overhead. It is lit and pulsing while it is running; press it again to stop, which closes the panel.

• It measures from your radar location, or from this device if you have not set one. Switching it on asks your browser for your location if it needs it.
• It follows the Live Flights filters, so with Military Only on it follows the nearest military aircraft, and altitude bands and searches apply too.
• It only changes aircraft when another is a mile closer than the one it is showing, so two aircraft a similar distance away don’t keep swapping the panel between them.
• The map stays where you put it. Switch on Track in the Live Flights options as well if you want the map to follow the aircraft too.
• The same switch is in the Live Flights options, listed as Auto Select. Either one moves both, and it is remembered with your other map settings.

On a Large Screen

When you open an aircraft’s info panel on a wide screen, the table steps aside for it: the table’s right edge stops at the panel and the panel runs down the right past the bottom of the map, so neither hides the other. When there isn’t room for both, the panel stops above the table instead. If the page is scrolled so the map runs below the bottom of the window, the table stays at the bottom of the window, so it’s always in view.

On Phones

The table opens as a half-height sheet showing the callsign, type, altitude and speed. When it has a location to measure from, it shows the distance instead of the speed, since the list is then sorted nearest first. It steps out of the way while an aircraft’s info panel is open.