Personal Testimonies

ASSERTIVENESS

Several times I didnt understand what NES said to me. I had to guess and ask again to clarify their intentions, I was embarrassed. SERBIAN ATCO

I asked to repeat but it's annoying especially in congested traffic areas. The danger comes when you have an intimidated pilot who prefers not to ask for feedback. ITALIAN FEEDBACK

My only controlling safety incident - I misheard a climb out instruction from a native speaker. When the tapes were played back the level restriction was not clear but I did not ask for the level to be repeated as I did not want to look as though I did not understand. Nothing happened but I learnt from that and used it when training controllers. BRITISH ATCO

During an approach to Louisiana Airport, well, even an American Airlines cannot receive a clear read back from ATC, then the ATC assumed a angry position and everything was chaos during that operation. COLOMBIAN PILOT

I felt like I had to guess what they said. ITALIAN PILOT

New York ATC especially on ground they speak fast without standards and have no patience in repeating the message. ITALIAN PILOT

I know for a fact that many non native speakers are intimidated by the way native speakers use the language and they’re terrified from both not understanding them and also being embarrassed in front of those around them. I heard that some ATCs immediately drop the headset when an American is speaking and hand it to a supervisor or a more proficient speaker in the shift, and this happens in normal non- emergency situations. KUWAITI INSTRUCTOR

At times they speak fast and get disturbed if asked to speak slower or get frustrated if they do not like the pronunciation of non native speakers. GREEK PILOT

Native speakers often try to negotiate proliferately, taking advantage of their proficiency. BULGARIAN ATCO

Often native speakers get disappointed if you don't promptly catch the meaning of the message and when you ask to repeat it they simply do that; same words, same speed and rhythm of the speech. That does not help the listener nor safety. ITALIAN PILOT.

The danger is when controllers are impatient. Having flown myself I have seen this in action. Having listened to American controllers in congested airspace I have also witnessed absolutely abrasive behavior that borders on dangerous and it’s amazing accidents have not happened in NYC because of this. GREEK PILOT

Too fast and impatient attitude from ATC - I remain in an uncertain situation. ITALIAN PILOT

Rapid-fire, accented ATC in the USA, exacerbated by regional cultural traits (eg. New York / Chicago - impatient/intolerant controllers) is my main experience of this, variously resulting in missed calls, repeat transmissions by both ATC and pilots, before ambiguity/misunderstandings are resolved - which exacerbate further the human factor of negative emotions and any shortage of airtime sharing in congested environments. There are 2 sides to this problem; ATC have a very busy job to perform and are often under-resourced as a state organisation, whereas pilots need clarity and resolution of ambiguity to protect flight safety. BRITISH PILOT

People assume a percent of the communication, you have to guess the rest of it, then the receiver tells you if you are right or wrong. COLOMBIAN PILOT

Sometimes I am literally guessing what the pilot wants to say no matter that I have heard clearly everything. BULGARIAN ATCO

Frankly speaking, I feel stressed trying to understand what they really mean when I fly to United Kingdom. I pay so much attention to trying to understand the message I have a headache at the end. TURKISH PILOT

Mostly I get the idea from the context. I mean if I hear that speaking without knowing the situation, I don't understand. TURKISH ATCO

A reluctance to ‘speak out’, to ask for help or to raise a potential problem can be caused by culture, seniority, gender and level of English.