For US student pilots
What “cleared to land” means
“Cleared to land” is the tower’s authorization for you to land on the runway it names. It is issued with a runway, it is based on the traffic and airport conditions the controller knows about, and you read it back with the runway.
The definition, as the FAA writes it
From the Pilot/Controller Glossary, entry CLEARED TO LAND (P/CG):
ATC authorization for an aircraft to land. It is predicated on known traffic and known physical airport conditions.
Two words in that sentence carry the weight. Authorization: until you hear it, you are not cleared to land, however obvious the runway looks, and if you reach short final without it you go around and say so. Known: the clearance is built on what the controller can see and has been told. It does not change who is flying the airplane, and it does not promise anything about traffic or conditions the tower is not aware of.
What to read back
A landing clearance carries a runway assignment, and the AIM (4-4-7 b) says the initial readback includes it, with left, right or center, and your call sign:
Pilots of airborne aircraft should read back the parts of ATC clearances and instructions containing altitude assignments, vectors or runway assignments. Include the aircraft identification in ALL readbacks and acknowledgements. Read back altitudes, altitude restrictions and vectors in the same sequence as given. The initial readback of a taxi, departure or landing clearance should include the runway assignment, including left, right or center.
The AIM’s own example of the form:
“November Five Charlie Tango, roger, cleared to land runway nine left”
And at a field with parallel runways, where the side matters as much as the number:
Tower: “Skyhawk three alpha bravo, runway one six right, cleared to land.”
You: “Runway one six right, cleared to land, Skyhawk three alpha bravo.”
Read the runway exactly as given. Dropping “right” is the readback error a tower will correct, because it is the one that puts an airplane on the wrong runway.
If the clearance does not come
The tower may hold a landing clearance until traffic ahead has cleared, and will usually tell you why. If you are on short final with no clearance, the answer is a go-around and a call to the tower; the go-around guide has the wording. If you are flying the pattern for practice, the tower may instead clear you “for the option” — a different clearance with its own entry:
"Cleared for the option" authorises a touch-and-go, low approach, missed approach, stop-and-go or full-stop landing at the pilot's discretion. Pilots should advise ATC if they decide to remain on the runway, delay a stop-and-go, delay clearing the runway, or are unable to comply.
Practice it at a real tower
Virtual ATC opens tuned to the tower, on today’s METAR, at any US airport — for example Boeing Field (KBFI), Westchester County (KHPN), Santa Monica (KSMO) and Buchanan Field (KCCR).
Read it back to a tower that is listening
TowerTalk's Exercise F flies the pattern at a real US airport — the landing clearance, the option, the go-around — with feedback on every readback written from the AIM.
Related
Study aid, written in our own words from the FAA Aeronautical Information Manual (Change 3, 7/9/26) and the Pilot/Controller Glossary, with paragraph references so you can check each point. Last reviewed October 5, 2026; awaiting review by a US flight instructor. It does not reproduce those documents and is not a substitute for them — always defer to the AIM, the current FAA publications, your instructor and your examiner. TowerTalk is not approved or endorsed by the FAA.