Good Rord.
This is funny, but it's also terrifying in its implications, and exactly why I will never fly any airline from any country except the United States or other English speaking countries...okay...yeah...also European airlines. That's it. China? No. Way.
The English language is the international standard for all air traffic communication. Period. If you can't speak it perfectly, then you have absolutely no business being in the cockpit of an international jetliner. Period.
The air traffic controller showed remarkable restraint in this exchange. If WWIII ever breaks out, it will be over an exchange like this when some poor air traffic controller just flips the eff out and starts screaming and running planes into each other.
Is it any wonder we all crapped our pants laughing at that news story
ReplyDeleteabout the plane that crashed in SF?
Bang Ding Ow
We To Low
Ho Lee Fuk
And Captain Sum Ting Wong
HAHAHAHA! Precisely. I used to fly ALOT out of San Francisco. But that was back in the day when virtually all international flights, even foreign airlines, were captained by English-first guys. A ton of them were Americans. Now these countries are filling those seats with their own and...CRAP! it is scary.
DeleteHell yes. There is a reason English is the official language of aviation. Most of
ReplyDeletethe world speaks the language. The term Niner is to avoid confusion with German pilots and air traffic controllers. The morons in your example will result in the deaths of a lot of people if they are not replaced by fluent English speakers.
Exactly. It was funny because they were just taxiing, but if that level of miscommunication had happened in the air, when fractions of seconds count, it could have been deadly. Or should I say...dead-ry....
Delete