Fatal consequences of miscommunication between pilots and air traffic controllers

Communication failures have been blamed for more than a thousand deaths in plane crashes, warns an academic who has reviewed the language pilots and air traffic controllers use. Dominique Estival, a Western Sydney University linguist, pilot and flight instructor has urged native English speakers to adjust their communication in the aviation industry to reduce the risk of misunderstanding by non-English speaking pilots. Estival said she has heard pilots in Australia saying "cleared for the big smoke" when cleared for takeoff, which was potentially dangerous in a situation where they were communicating with a non-English speaker. So-called aviation English was adopted as the international language of pilots and air traffic controllers in 2011. But in her new book Aviation English, Estival warns that some terms commonly used have been misunderstood, with fatal consequences. Miscommunication had contributed to the deaths of more than 2000 people who have been killed in plane crashes since the mid-1970s. Given that radio communication is the main means of communication between air traffic controllers and pilots, effective communication "is crucial for aviation safety". Other examples included the incorrect use of the words "inbound" and "outbound", saying "no" instead of "negative" or "yes" instead of "affirm" .<br/>