6 ms·

Pilots speak their own language in their country, everywhere else is in english. Why Im being downvoted?

by Thaxll 5y ago

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
MobileVet 5y ago
Because English is the official ATC language used world wide. You must know and speak in English to fly. You may speak another language but English is first and relied upon.
- DocTomoe 5y ago
  Point is, both of you are correct, and this argument is pointless. The native language is a common fallback during emergency situations, in situations where phraseology is insufficient, to expedite communication.
- physhster 5y ago
  In lots of countries, GA pilots don't speak English, but ATC does.
  - bee_rider 5y ago
    Hey be nice, southern accents might be kind of weird, but technically people from Georgia (the state) speak English.
    - mechanical_bear 5y ago
      GA = general aviation
  - 9991 5y ago
- m2fkxy 5y ago
  > You must know and speak in English to fly. This is absolutely incorrect! English proficiency is not a requirement if you are proficient in the official language of the country you are flying in. ATS provide services both in said-language and in English.
  - GekkePrutser 5y ago
    At least in Europe you won't even get your PPL without an English proficiency test. Unless you're born in the UK or Ireland that is. Because you're deemed native.
    - m2fkxy 5y ago
      > At least in Europe you won't even get your PPL without an English proficiency test. Yes, you will, in a number of EASA countries.
pc86 5y ago
Because you're wrong. The lingua franca of the air is English. I've heard ATC recordings in multiple countries and they're all in English, including ones between non-native English speakers. If you come on this frequency and you don't speak French, you have no context at all for what's going on. It's incredibly dangerous and it shouldn't ever happen.
- _moof 5y ago
  I'm afraid you're the one who is wrong. Yes, when a common language is needed, it is English, but native languages are explicitly allowed by EU law.
  - smachiz 5y ago
    Common language is always needed - this is CDG, a large airport with many flights. It is important that all planes have situational awareness. If half are speaking French, how does the pilot coming from Seoul have situational awareness? What if he's sitting on the runway and doesn't know that the ATC just gave clearance to land in French to a pilot on the runway he's currently on? ATC and pilots for commercial airlines should only be speaking English, regardless of their native tongue and where they are. It's pretty important - and it is actually EU law: https://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/29531/air-traffic-controller-pilot-lingua-franca-must-be-english-even-if-both-are-spanish-says-eu-rule https://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/29531/air-traffic-cont... Unfortunately it only applies to airports with 50k international flights per year - the bar should be much lower than that. But of course, CDG qualifies.
    - hef19898 5y ago
      Situational awareness in controlled air space comes to a large degree from air traffic control. Not from listening to communicatiom between traffic control and other planes.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- cameldrv 5y ago
Tuna-Fish 5y ago
Because doing so is a terrible practice, and I'm saying this as someone who is not a native english speaker. The communication between the tower and the plane is not just for their benefit. Everyone else is on the same frequency, listening in, and needs to be able to understand what is going on. Not everyone is going to be able to understand french, while everyone flying in controlled airspace is going to understand english.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- hef19898 5y ago
  And France ain't a black hole like Africa when it comes to air traffic control. Also, using the language of the station is acceptable under official rules. French pilots speaking French in French air space are just fine.
coin 5y ago
Because that’s not always the case. There are plenty of non-English countries that use English even for native flights, eg Japan and Taiwan.
United857 5y ago
I flew a lot of flights on United where they have a feature in the inflight entertainment system where you can listen in on the ATC comms (if the captain turns it on). I've found that: * French pilots generally speak in French in France or Quebec * Russian pilots speak in Russian in Russia * Mainland Chinese pilots speak in Mandarin in mainland China (but not in Taiwan or HK where English seems to be universal) * Spanish/Latin American pilots speak in Spanish in those places. Otherwise, it's generally English ATC including countries where it's otherwise not the native language, e.g. Japan, South Korea, Germany.

Pilots speak their own language in their country, everywhere else is in english. Why Im being downvoted?

by Thaxll 5y ago

Pilots speak their own language in their country, everywhere else is in english. Why Im being downvoted?

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

MobileVet 5y ago

Because English is the official ATC language used world wide. You must know and speak in English to fly. You may speak another language but English is first and relied upon.

DocTomoe 5y ago
Point is, both of you are correct, and this argument is pointless. The native language is a common fallback during emergency situations, in situations where phraseology is insufficient, to expedite communication.
physhster 5y ago
In lots of countries, GA pilots don't speak English, but ATC does.
- bee_rider 5y ago
  Hey be nice, southern accents might be kind of weird, but technically people from Georgia (the state) speak English.
  - mechanical_bear 5y ago
    GA = general aviation
- 9991 5y ago
m2fkxy 5y ago
> You must know and speak in English to fly. This is absolutely incorrect! English proficiency is not a requirement if you are proficient in the official language of the country you are flying in. ATS provide services both in said-language and in English.
- GekkePrutser 5y ago
  At least in Europe you won't even get your PPL without an English proficiency test. Unless you're born in the UK or Ireland that is. Because you're deemed native.
  - m2fkxy 5y ago
    > At least in Europe you won't even get your PPL without an English proficiency test. Yes, you will, in a number of EASA countries.

pc86 5y ago

Because you're wrong. The lingua franca of the air is English. I've heard ATC recordings in multiple countries and they're all in English, including ones between non-native English speakers. If you come on this frequency and you don't speak French, you have no context at all for what's going on. It's incredibly dangerous and it shouldn't ever happen.

_moof 5y ago
I'm afraid you're the one who is wrong. Yes, when a common language is needed, it is English, but native languages are explicitly allowed by EU law.
- smachiz 5y ago
  Common language is always needed - this is CDG, a large airport with many flights. It is important that all planes have situational awareness. If half are speaking French, how does the pilot coming from Seoul have situational awareness? What if he's sitting on the runway and doesn't know that the ATC just gave clearance to land in French to a pilot on the runway he's currently on? ATC and pilots for commercial airlines should only be speaking English, regardless of their native tongue and where they are. It's pretty important - and it is actually EU law: https://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/29531/air-traffic-controller-pilot-lingua-franca-must-be-english-even-if-both-are-spanish-says-eu-rule https://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/29531/air-traffic-cont... Unfortunately it only applies to airports with 50k international flights per year - the bar should be much lower than that. But of course, CDG qualifies.
  - hef19898 5y ago
    Situational awareness in controlled air space comes to a large degree from air traffic control. Not from listening to communicatiom between traffic control and other planes.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
cameldrv 5y ago

Tuna-Fish 5y ago

Because doing so is a terrible practice, and I'm saying this as someone who is not a native english speaker. The communication between the tower and the plane is not just for their benefit. Everyone else is on the same frequency, listening in, and needs to be able to understand what is going on. Not everyone is going to be able to understand french, while everyone flying in controlled airspace is going to understand english.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
hef19898 5y ago
And France ain't a black hole like Africa when it comes to air traffic control. Also, using the language of the station is acceptable under official rules. French pilots speaking French in French air space are just fine.

coin 5y ago

Because that’s not always the case. There are plenty of non-English countries that use English even for native flights, eg Japan and Taiwan.

United857 5y ago

I flew a lot of flights on United where they have a feature in the inflight entertainment system where you can listen in on the ATC comms (if the captain turns it on). I've found that: * French pilots generally speak in French in France or Quebec * Russian pilots speak in Russian in Russia * Mainland Chinese pilots speak in Mandarin in mainland China (but not in Taiwan or HK where English seems to be universal) * Spanish/Latin American pilots speak in Spanish in those places. Otherwise, it's generally English ATC including countries where it's otherwise not the native language, e.g. Japan, South Korea, Germany.