"Numbers were hard for them so I could not determine their altitude," he told a Russian news portal"
It is staggering to imagine that over half of airplane crashes are due to human error. Could many of these be due to language barriers? That, of course, is one very valid assumption. Gladwell also offers the argument that culture's influence on languages can affect communication between pilots and air traffic controllers. For instance, Flight 052, a Columbian jet that crashed in January 1990. The first officer not only failed to express the gravity of the situation to the ATC (did not repeat "emergency" as the captain said it), but it is believed that his calm speaking tone was due to the nature of his language and culture. In other words, his language and culture didn't permit him to speak to his superiors in any other tone of voice.
If the recent plane crash in Smolensk was due to a language barrier, and if Columbian culture and Spanish language teach one to speak in a formal voice to one's superiors, is there a cause to use a universal language amongst plane carriers? Is English best fit for the job? With hundreds of international flights every day, we can imagine that many pilots are at least somewhat familiar with the language of their destination. But is there a culture beyond language that has to be taught as well?
"investigators had "concluded there were no conditions for landing". The plane tried to land despite being advised by air traffic control "not to do so" he said."
In the above, we also see another possible problem. "Advised." The ATC simply advising the pilots to divert to another airport doesn't sound as grave if one gave a command. A simple choice of words, even if translated correctly, can lead to massive problems.
Gladwell, Malcolm. "Outliers"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/12/language-president-theories-polish-air-disaster
I was also really interested in the parallels to Outliers. I definitely think a universal system should be in place for airplane pilots, especially those responsible for international flights. It should be a part of their training in order to insure that miscommunication won't be an issue. It would be impossible to educate every pilot about every culture he/she might encounter, but if there are certain ways to address people that are universal, tragedies might be avoided.
ReplyDeleteI find this topic fascinating as well. As much as I respect other cultures and languages and the continued use of them in everyday life, I think safety is a whole different issue. When pilots are responsible for so many people's lives, there needs to be a universal understanding among them that surpasses cultural values. Pilots should be trained to overstep the boundaries of respect in their culture if that means saving lives. This may be a difficult idea to impose though, and I don't think it will be easy to do.
ReplyDeleteKathy, I agree with you. I though of Outliers too when I read reports suggesting that the language barrier was to blame for the crash. A universal system should be implemented on all flights. The words should be clear in any language (so, for example, we wouldn't want to use signal words that would not be well understood in another country due to differences in pronunciation -- earlier example of Engrish in Japan). This system should be mandatory for international flights and suggested for domestic flights (unless the same pilots fly for both types).
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