Man This Is Scary.
According to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) more than 1,500 passengers and crew have lost their lives in accidents worldwide, with causes traced to problems in communication brought about by deficiency in the English language proficiency on the part of flight crew and controllers!!
I had never thought that lack of good spoken English would have such life-threatening consequences. At worse the less fluent would have difficulty getting a good job in the private sector and even if they did land one what possible damage can it do except to slow down communications a little here and there. But when learning of the dangerous risks, taking a flight on a plane manned by 'English-challenged' individuals suddenly doesn't sound funny any more.
Some 100 aviation experts from 31 countries and international organisations gathered in Singapore last week to address the concern over the lack of English proficiency among flight crew and controllers. During the three-day "Conference on Aeronautical English - Speaking Right for Safety", they had discussed the English language proficiency requirements by the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) whose 189 members are required to meet by March 2008. "Communication problems have often been implicated in many aviation accidents and runway incursions," the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said.
President, ICAO Air Navigation Commission, Adrian Sayce underscored the the importance of the English proficiency to assure high levels of safety of the global air transport system.
"The issue of competence in aeronautical English is one of those standards that are essential to assure a high level of safety. This conference is an essential part of the process that leads towards satisfactory implementation," he said.
Various international regulatory bodies and institutions such as ICAO, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations, the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers Association (IFATCA), Aerothai, Regional Language Centre as well as civil aviation authorities of Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore, provided insights to the initiatives taken by their organisations in meeting these requirements.
The perspectives of both pilots and air traffic controllers were also discussed at the conference, CAAS said.
CAAS Director-General, Wong Woon Liong said: "Singapore fully supports all ICAO initiatives that would enhance safety in aviation. All Singapore air traffic controllers and pilots are currently licensed in accordance with the ICAO medical standards and proficiency checks."
The conference which ended on Aug 2 was organised by the Singapore Aviation Academy, the training arm of the CAAS.
****So the next time you plan to take a flight on a non-English speaking country's airline make sure you insist that at least the pilot and the co-pilot are fluent in the language. I wonder how our nationalists at the Dewan Bahasa and other dens of linguistic chauvinism are going to react to this piece of 'bad news' about the unassailable importance of English and its absolute necessity even for our own airlines.
I had never thought that lack of good spoken English would have such life-threatening consequences. At worse the less fluent would have difficulty getting a good job in the private sector and even if they did land one what possible damage can it do except to slow down communications a little here and there. But when learning of the dangerous risks, taking a flight on a plane manned by 'English-challenged' individuals suddenly doesn't sound funny any more.
Some 100 aviation experts from 31 countries and international organisations gathered in Singapore last week to address the concern over the lack of English proficiency among flight crew and controllers. During the three-day "Conference on Aeronautical English - Speaking Right for Safety", they had discussed the English language proficiency requirements by the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) whose 189 members are required to meet by March 2008. "Communication problems have often been implicated in many aviation accidents and runway incursions," the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said.
President, ICAO Air Navigation Commission, Adrian Sayce underscored the the importance of the English proficiency to assure high levels of safety of the global air transport system.
"The issue of competence in aeronautical English is one of those standards that are essential to assure a high level of safety. This conference is an essential part of the process that leads towards satisfactory implementation," he said.
Various international regulatory bodies and institutions such as ICAO, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations, the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers Association (IFATCA), Aerothai, Regional Language Centre as well as civil aviation authorities of Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore, provided insights to the initiatives taken by their organisations in meeting these requirements.
The perspectives of both pilots and air traffic controllers were also discussed at the conference, CAAS said.
CAAS Director-General, Wong Woon Liong said: "Singapore fully supports all ICAO initiatives that would enhance safety in aviation. All Singapore air traffic controllers and pilots are currently licensed in accordance with the ICAO medical standards and proficiency checks."
The conference which ended on Aug 2 was organised by the Singapore Aviation Academy, the training arm of the CAAS.
****So the next time you plan to take a flight on a non-English speaking country's airline make sure you insist that at least the pilot and the co-pilot are fluent in the language. I wonder how our nationalists at the Dewan Bahasa and other dens of linguistic chauvinism are going to react to this piece of 'bad news' about the unassailable importance of English and its absolute necessity even for our own airlines.
posted by The Malaysian. at 8/07/2006 10:59:00 PM
2 Comments:
The 2 South Korean airlines are famous for not speaking English well and have had a few near misses. You can Google some of the news articles online. They are very unionized, and resist change.
Quite true resurrected. In fact I had them in mind when I referred to 'English-challenged' airlines. While pride in ones language is good it shouldn't blind them to the realities of everyday life.
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