You make a statement, it is read the wrong way, or the response is preposterous. This sort of scenario happens everyday, often harmless. But in aviation, it’s a recipe for disaster. There are hordes of regulations and best practices to mitigate againgst such threats, but sometimes, one may slip through the crack.
You make a statement, it is read the wrong way, or the response is preposterous. This sort of scenario happens everyday, often harmless. But in aviation, it’s a recipe for disaster. There are hordes of regulations and best practices to mitigate againgst such threats, but sometimes, one may slip through the crack. Have a look at this video:
A Swiss pilot and Russian air traffic controllers struggle to understand each other in an emergency where clarity and brevity is most paramount. I had a laugh because I thought that it was satire, but I’ve learnt some serious lessons from this. The best part of this story is that there were no injuries or fatalities.
English language proficiency is not something that should be taken lightly, even if English is your native language. Local accents, diviation from standard phraseology, and the injection of colloquy can be just as ominous.
In January, 1990, Avianca Flight 52 crashed into a village in Long Island, New York after running out of fuel. Eight crew members and 65 passengers on board the Boeing 707 were killed. The NTSB report on the accident determined the cause as pilot error due to the crew never declaring a fuel emergency to air traffic control as per IATA guidelines. The crew asked for “priority” landing which, because of language differences between English and Spanish, can be interpreted as an emergency to the Spanish-speaking pilots but not to the English-speaking air traffic controllers.
Of course there were other factors which contributed to that crash, but with clear concise communication, perhaps tragedy could have been averted.
Since the implementation of ICAO English Language Proficiency Requirements, how has safety been enhanced in your airspace?
3 Responses
Something like this happening bothers me more than a controller letting his kid talk to the pilots. It’s imperative that controllers and pilots be able to understand each other.
I agree Rafael. There are regulations in place to guard against such incidents, so it is each State’s responsibility to enforce these.
This is very scary. It sounds like without the help of other pilots, this could have turned out very badly.