Eckhard,
The way we use QNE is NOT common usage, it is the PRESCRIBED usage. Not because people commit mistakes in usage mean we should just all follow them.
There is a reason why ATC language is quite use-specific.
As well, just because somebody is a native English speaker doesn't mean he's already proficient in ATC comms. Quite the contrary, I'd say.
Some of the pilots I know who had a very hard time being word-perfect in ATC phraseologies are native English speakers.
Why try to be word-perfect? 3 letters: CRM.
Cheers!!!
