Poor language skills play an often-unrecognized role in aircraft accidents.
In the early morning of Aug. 15, 2005, climbing through 15,000 ft, with cockpit warning horns blaring, the captain of Helios Airways Flight 522, a Boeing 737 in trouble over Cyprus, radioed to ground engineers that “the ventilation cooling fan lights were off.” The message was not clear, and a ground engineer asked him to repeat (“Missed Opportunities.” ASW 1/07).1
Native English speakers can alter word choices and other speaking habits to help non-native speakers understand.
Experts say pilots and air traffic controllers who are not native English speakers may need refresher training in aviation English before they return to work.
Flight Deck, Managing Editor’s Notebook, Opinion
Critical information is lost when all pilots and controllers aren’t speaking the same language.
