Communications between tower and cockpit may not be fully understood
On a flight out of Shanghai, the pilot of a United States airline radioed air traffic control seeking a higher altitude. But, said the pilot, Jim Karsh, he could not understand the controller’s reply.
“We tried six, seven, eight times to have him repeat,” Mr. Karsh said, then
“we canceled our request.”
Mr. Karsh and other airline pilots say that understanding controllers who work in Chinese airspace can often be difficult. “The amount of English thex speak is geared solely to controller lingo,” he said. “‘Turn right to a heading of X, climb to flight level X.’”
“We tried six, seven, eight times to have him repeat,” Mr. Karsh said, then
“we canceled our request.”
Mr. Karsh and other airline pilots say that understanding controllers who work in Chinese airspace can often be difficult. “The amount of English thex speak is geared solely to controller lingo,” he said. “‘Turn right to a heading of X, climb to flight level X.’”
“Even the basic can be hard to understand, and if you stray out of the very rudimentary A.T.C. language box, they will not know what you are talking about,” Mr. Karsh said, referring to air traffic control terminology.
The problem is not confined to China, according to a just-published study for the British Civil Aviation Authority. An inability to communicate in English is widespread and a safety threat the industry is not taking seriously enough, the report says.
The problem is not confined to China, according to a just-published study for the British Civil Aviation Authority. An inability to communicate in English is widespread and a safety threat the industry is not taking seriously enough, the report says.
Miscommunication can be as much of a hazard “as an engine fire, a broken landing gear or avionics failure,” said Barbara Clark, the author of the study and the head of You Say Tomato, a Britain-based consultancy.
English has been the official language of aviation since 2003, when the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency, reacting to a midair collision over India in 1996 that killed 351 people, determined that a shared language would provide additional safety. In the India crash, investigators said the pilot of the Kazakhstan Airways flight failed to understand an instruction to fly to 15,000 feet and hold, while a Saudi Arabia Airlines Boeing 747 was flying at 14,000 feet. The two collided.
Countries were given until 2011 to ensure that pilots on international routes be able to communicate within the air traffic control system and that pilots and controllers be proficient in spoken English.
The deadline for compliance came at a difficult time for international aviation, as air travel was booming in parts of the world where English is not widely spoken. Highly trained pilots and air traffic controllers were in demand, and in some cases, English comprehension took a back seat to more-technical skills.
English has been the official language of aviation since 2003, when the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency, reacting to a midair collision over India in 1996 that killed 351 people, determined that a shared language would provide additional safety. In the India crash, investigators said the pilot of the Kazakhstan Airways flight failed to understand an instruction to fly to 15,000 feet and hold, while a Saudi Arabia Airlines Boeing 747 was flying at 14,000 feet. The two collided.
Countries were given until 2011 to ensure that pilots on international routes be able to communicate within the air traffic control system and that pilots and controllers be proficient in spoken English.
The deadline for compliance came at a difficult time for international aviation, as air travel was booming in parts of the world where English is not widely spoken. Highly trained pilots and air traffic controllers were in demand, and in some cases, English comprehension took a back seat to more-technical skills.
“In China, controller s knew the essentials of aviation English, but as soon as someone tried to communicate something other than what was routinely expected, things would very likely come to a screeching halt,” said Mike Bender, a pilot for an American airline. “I mention China, but that was often the case in many places around the world.”
Airlines also worried about discrimination against candidates because of substandard English language skills, said Dr. Clark, who wrote the report.
“You can't have a pilot who isn't going to be able to communicate,” she said. “It's one of three tenets of piloting: aviate, navigate and communicate.”
Airlines also worried about discrimination against candidates because of substandard English language skills, said Dr. Clark, who wrote the report.
“You can't have a pilot who isn't going to be able to communicate,” she said. “It's one of three tenets of piloting: aviate, navigate and communicate.”
In her report, Dr. Clark said she found evidence of cheating on language-assessment tests in one country and instances where certifications issued without testing. Some language schools were promising students language proficiency certificates in as little as 10 days, which English teachers told her was not sufficient to learn the material.
The problem is not confined to non-English speakers. Words can mean different things to different people, and native English speakers, with their broader vocabularies, are more likely to use idioms and slang that can confuse those unfamiliar with the language.
The International Civil Aviation Organization has established codes and phrases known as aviation English, including the expressions that aviation professionals are expected to so that everyone is working with the same understanding.
That's why, in his 21 years of flying internationally, Mr. Bender said, he did not use American slang on the radio. It “was the rule of the day, every day,” he said, because when pilots or controllers deviate from aviation English, problems can follow.
That was demonstrated in December 2016, when an airliner from EVA, a Taiwan-based airline, left Los Angeles International Airport for Taipei. Both the pilot and the controller made mistakes in their radio exchange, and as a result the wide-body plane, with 353 people aboard, was flying directly north toward a 5,700-foot mountain.
The problem is not confined to non-English speakers. Words can mean different things to different people, and native English speakers, with their broader vocabularies, are more likely to use idioms and slang that can confuse those unfamiliar with the language.
The International Civil Aviation Organization has established codes and phrases known as aviation English, including the expressions that aviation professionals are expected to so that everyone is working with the same understanding.
That's why, in his 21 years of flying internationally, Mr. Bender said, he did not use American slang on the radio. It “was the rule of the day, every day,” he said, because when pilots or controllers deviate from aviation English, problems can follow.
That was demonstrated in December 2016, when an airliner from EVA, a Taiwan-based airline, left Los Angeles International Airport for Taipei. Both the pilot and the controller made mistakes in their radio exchange, and as a result the wide-body plane, with 353 people aboard, was flying directly north toward a 5,700-foot mountain.
The controller asked the pilot, “EVA 15, what are you doing? Turn southbound now,”
a nonstandard instruction that did not indicate whether the plane should turn left or right. It appeared to confuse the Taiwanese pilot, although the plane continued to ascend while turning and averted an accident. The Federal Aviation Administration investigated the event.
While English is required to be spoken in international airspace, the report cited the common practice of local languages being spoken between controllers and crews on domestic flights in many countries, including Brazil, Turkey and France.
“That's fine for them,” said Jim Blaszczak, a recently retired airline captain. “For the rest of the pilots of all other languages, it is a threat.” Because some pilots may be unaware of what is going on around them, he said, “it reduces their situational awareness.”
This was cited in the investigation of a fatal collision of two airplanes on the runway at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on May 25, 2000. The wing of an Algerian airliner sliced through the cockpit of a British cargo plane, killing one pilot and injuring the other.
The accident investigators noted that the British pilots, who were not French-speaking, did not understand that the larger Algerian plane had been cleared to take off on the runway the British airplane was crossing.
Pedro Heibrun, the chief executive of Copa Airlines of Panama, acknowledged the problem and said the policy at his airline was for pilots to speak English in the cockpit, even when flying in Latin American airspace.
“Our cockpits are in English, our manuals are in English and a lot of our communications are in English,” he said.
People who travel to foreign countries expect things to be different when they arrive. But for the pilots, diversity begins while they are still in the air. If aviation’s switch to English is going to enhance safety as designed, Dr. Clark's report concludes, English needs to be used better and a lot more often. At present, she said, “The Tower of Babel is flying above us.”
a nonstandard instruction that did not indicate whether the plane should turn left or right. It appeared to confuse the Taiwanese pilot, although the plane continued to ascend while turning and averted an accident. The Federal Aviation Administration investigated the event.
While English is required to be spoken in international airspace, the report cited the common practice of local languages being spoken between controllers and crews on domestic flights in many countries, including Brazil, Turkey and France.
“That's fine for them,” said Jim Blaszczak, a recently retired airline captain. “For the rest of the pilots of all other languages, it is a threat.” Because some pilots may be unaware of what is going on around them, he said, “it reduces their situational awareness.”
This was cited in the investigation of a fatal collision of two airplanes on the runway at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on May 25, 2000. The wing of an Algerian airliner sliced through the cockpit of a British cargo plane, killing one pilot and injuring the other.
The accident investigators noted that the British pilots, who were not French-speaking, did not understand that the larger Algerian plane had been cleared to take off on the runway the British airplane was crossing.
Pedro Heibrun, the chief executive of Copa Airlines of Panama, acknowledged the problem and said the policy at his airline was for pilots to speak English in the cockpit, even when flying in Latin American airspace.
“Our cockpits are in English, our manuals are in English and a lot of our communications are in English,” he said.
People who travel to foreign countries expect things to be different when they arrive. But for the pilots, diversity begins while they are still in the air. If aviation’s switch to English is going to enhance safety as designed, Dr. Clark's report concludes, English needs to be used better and a lot more often. At present, she said, “The Tower of Babel is flying above us.”
