Grouchy, it was not my intention to shoot the messenger. I interpreted your post to mean that if all parties in the incident you alluded to had spoken English, the event
would not have occurred. I used the example of USAir 1432 to show, as the song says, 'tain't necessarily so. I'm sorry if you took it the wrong way.
http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1991/1991-3.htm
Saudi, agreed that unilingual French is no guarantee either. A loss of separation occurred between an ATR42 and a L1011 near the QB VOR some years back where all the parties involved were communicating in French. As that incident and the USAir737/WS Metro accident prove, **** can happen in any language.
You accuse me of two things, being politically motivated and not flight safety oriented. I'm retired. I don't have to kiss anyone's ass for any reason, least of all for political motives. As for my dedication to flight safety, I don't happen to believe that a French Quebecer should have to learn English to do circuits and bumps at the local airport in St. Ciboire. French communication is offered at all Quebec airports, and at Ottawa. I'd be the first to agree this was a political decision, but presumably a risk analysis was carried out before this became law twenty or so years ago and the risk was deemed minimal. As things stand now, if that unilingual guy is out there chances are he'll be talking to someone and obtaining the traffic not keeping mum and blundering around in somebody elses airspace.