Sandcat

SandCat — Aviation Reference Tool for ATC Transcription

SandCat is a browser overlay designed for transcriptionists and annotators working on Air Traffic Control audio datasets. It surfaces the aviation context you need — right on top of your annotation tool — so you can accurately transcribe calls without switching tabs or digging through charts.

Built for transcription workflows:

Airport & runway lookup — Instantly identify airports by ICAO/IATA code, with runway details to help decode ground and tower communications

Instrument procedures — Look up SIDs, STARs, and approaches referenced in ATC calls across US (FAA NASR), Australian, Swiss, Irish, Dutch, and Canadian airspace. Search US procedures nationwide by fix name, or search non-US procedure names directly from your nearby results panel

Frequency search — Look up ATC frequencies by value or name across worldwide airports, with country filtering

Navaids, fixes & airways — Resolve waypoint names, VORs, NDBs, and airway identifiers heard in en-route and approach control audio

Active flight context — Connect with ADS-B Exchange to pull a flight's filed route and stream its waypoints, giving you the full picture of what a controller is working

Labelbox integration — Natively hooks into Labelbox annotation sessions, automatically syncing the panel to the audio row you're currently working on

SkyVector chart overlay — Visualize a flight's track on SkyVector maps to understand the spatial context behind the communications

Why it helps:

ATC audio is dense with identifiers — waypoints, procedure names, runway designators, callsigns — that are easy to mishear or misspell without reference. SandCat keeps all of that data one glance away, reducing lookup time and improving transcription accuracy.

All data is processed locally. No account required.