Posted on 07/10/2013 7:58:51 PM PDT by Zhang Fei
LMAO!
I am a retired ATC out of SFO. I worked SFO Bay Approach at NCT (Area B)and we dealt with foreign pilots on a regular basis.
If you get a couple of them on frequency at the same time and you are having a problem with them reading back your clearances in a manner that you think is correct and you have to keep going back to them to verify, you can “go down the shitter” pretty quick.
That is one issue.
I can’t verify, but I have heard that the requirement to speak English (the universal language in ATC) is very lax. This would not surprise me from my experience. A few have told me that it is just a matter of them checking a box on a form.
Here is an issue that is not being brought up and might be a factor in this accident. Cockpit/Crew Resource Management CRM is a bit different in the Asian Culture. There is a tendency to not question your superiors. This can have disastrous consequences in the cockpit.
I am not sure about the dynamics that were in play on this flight with training going on etc... but someone should have said something sooner.
I have always felt that it would be very very easy for a reporter looking for a story to get a scanner and monitor the traffic at SFO or any other international airport and document just how bad the language barrier is.
Also read just now that at least one of the pilots that was being interviewed was using a translator. HMmmmmmmm..... That does not surprise me at all.
Its a shame what has happened to the American carriers and I have no doubt what you say is correct. However claims of superior safety are not enough to bring me back to the American carriers although in other areas I try to buy American goods and services.
Although I fly the foreign carriers almost exclusively I do try to fly on Boeing metal.
I love the 747 and I’m not particularly impressed with the A-380’s that I’ve flown with SIA, Emirates. I suspect my choices will become fewer as time goes on as the saga of the 787 seems to have no end in sight..
If ain't Boeing, I ain't going.
My Dad got a real kick out of reading this (retired Air Force mechanic), thanks for sharing.
After Jet Crash, Asiana Airlines Will Bolster Its Pilot Training
Tres amusing. Thanks for the link.
Anything to say about Southwest’s accident? Does this evidence the training system in Korea is a copy of the American system?
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