Foreign pilots learning to fly in Australia – Is it a safety risk?
July 21, 2010
Has the influx of foreign student pilots into Australia caused a degradation in safety due to poor communication and English language skills? Australia’s ‘Today Tonight’ reports. Unfortunately, this short segment doesn’t address the countless industry concerns and does not include the direct opinions of pilots or ATC. Read more at www.flight.org .
Comments
14 Responses to “Foreign pilots learning to fly in Australia – Is it a safety risk?”
Got something to say?
[...] Foreign pilots learning to fly in Australia – Is it a safety risk … [...]
excuse me ? Am I hearing wrongly ? Im from Singapore and I am extremely proud to say that I speak perfect english.
hmmm i had some china southern tosser flying the circuit backwards, unfortunatly i was in that circuit at that time. let me tell you, seeing a landing light in your face isnt the best of feelings…. two words, knife edge.
Typical aussie racist diatribe. Wake up, smell the coffee, the world is full of colour, and accents, and cultural differences. Muppets
@yoursumashankar
You are right on!
why do aussies think their english is the perfect english? lol…many americans have hard time understanding australian accent.
btw, it is responsibility of the flight instructor to monitor communications between their student and other aircraft/tower.
bloody hard….. parents pay for them to fly over, pay for all their flight training, put them in a house, give spending money, not even work a part time job……
shit if only i was so lucky, nope I have to do the stupid thing and work for it
Ive heard US pilots coming into the country struggling a bit with Aussie accents
Personaly I dont think language is the big issue – its flight discpline and compliance with sop’s that really matter. The guys who are willing to put themsevles through proper training do well. It must be really hard to deal for the overseas guys.
well what do they expect, the head of casa is an ex cathay pilot, of course he will defend the airlines!!! get these people into class rooms and get them to understand the language it is hard enough to fly in such tight airspace not alone make sure that not only you but your passengers are safe with people who can not understand the basic requirements set by atc. something has to be done about it!!!
far out – this is today tonight – a xenophobic Australian show. absolutely no credibility!
this show is just designed for everyone to get afraid.
being an Australian i am extremely embarrassed!
I have IELTS overall score of 7. The Australian Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) must be given training on how to communicate properly and clearly. They seems to be speaking too fast in Oz English as if they are talking to a friend or neighbour. The flying schools must only accept all students (Local and Foreign), who score more than 6.5 in IELTS. Also the schools must train the students in ‘Flying Language’ skills before the flying lessons. Just blaming overseas students in an easy excuse.
true. current minimum score requirement for flying schools in australia are;
TOEFL : 71
IELTS : 6.0
maybe a slight higher minimum score should solve the problem.
Maybe incoming students need higher TOEFL or IELTS tests BEFORE going to Australia. In short student pilots should already know and be able to communicate in English before arriving.