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Letters laid out on the ground.
Also known as: Ground to air signals, Survivor signal code, Air search ground code
The international code of large symbols laid out on the ground to signal to a searching aircraft.
Signals a survivor's needs to a searching aircraft: V for assistance required, X for medical assistance, N for no, Y for yes and an arrow for direction of travel.
Contexts: Public information, Navigation
Restricted to shapes that stay legible from altitude and at an angle, which rules out anything with fine detail — the constraint of the viewing distance selects the vocabulary.
Contexts: Public information, Navigation
Made from whatever contrasts with the ground rather than from any supplied equipment, so the code assumes a survivor has nothing but what is around them.
Contexts: Public information, Navigation
Large letters and strokes — a V, an X, an N, a Y, an arrow — laid out in contrasting material on open ground, each at least three metres across.