Poor ESL skills to blame for air crash?
The Brazzil Mag is reporting that the poor English skills of Brazilian air traffic controllers were to blame for the country’s worst ever air accident in September 2006, in which 154 people died.
According to the former head of the Brazilian Air Traffic Controllers Association, Ulisses Fontenele, quoted in the article, less than 10% of Brazilian controllers speak fluent English, and those that do learnt “on their own initiative”. He says that controllers have only a 6 month basic English course as part of their training, and only “typical and basic flight control phrases for when everything is normal in the air.”
Whether or not this helped cause the crash in this case, it does highlight the responsibilities that organisations have when their employees are charged with the safety of other people. Should there be stricter controls over English language requirements? Have a look at the article (the comments at the bottom make for interesting reading too) and tell us what you think…
