What is the language of the skies?? There is of course the decision by ICAO that it is English, but flying the skies of Europe and western Africa one could start doubting this. There is frankly too much local language on the air IMHO.
Considering a few of the accidents we have encountered in Europe in the last couple of years, a disturbing amount of them have references to language barriers included in the preliminary or actual accident reports. If not as the cause of the accident/incident then as a contributing factor. What I hope from writing this Piece is a healthy debate on the language of the skies, and maybe the colleagues in the air will return to English, and only use local language as a last resort. This is in my view a safety issue, and one we as fellow aviators need to address. Consider the following postulates.
1. By all speaking the same language the amount of radio traffic will be reduced as one will be able to deduce information from other conversations.
2. Understanding all of the radio communications will give a better situational awareness to all.
3. Forced use of the English language will improve the English level for those who do not have it as a mother tongue, thus maybe avoiding situations where fear of the language leads to complacency.
4. Is it not common courtesy to speak a language everyone understands when being in a social environment, why should the air be any different.
The skies of Europe are about to change, the EU is growing introducing new states, more and more languages are being introduced. We need to adhere to the standard. Although I am weighing this a lot towards the European skies, I do believe this is a issue that needs to be addressed globally. Please let’s try and make this a positive debate. I am not naming any languages nor any countries as I am sure that we all have our different experiences, and I do not wish this to become a mudslinging contest. I speak 5 languages, no braging intended, myself but consider it very much a safety issue to speak English on the radio. What if anything can be done to change the current state without having a lot of guys starting to wave the flag.
Oluf
