Article:
How Poor English Skills Have Caused Plane Crashes
Most of the time, if you make a mistake speaking English, you might be a bit embarrassed, but nothing bad will happen. However, that isn't the case for pilots and airline crews, with good communication sometimes being the difference between life and death.
Here are two of the worst plane crashes caused by poor communication before English language requirements for airline crews were standardized in 2001.
Charkhi Dadri Mid-Air Collision
On November 12, 1996, a Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 collided with a Kazakhstan Airlines IL-76 in the air above Charkhi Dadri, India. According to the Air Traffic Controllers Guild, the crash was caused by a misunderstanding between the crew of the Kazakh plane and air traffic control.
The Kazakh co-pilot thought they had been told to fly at 14,000 feet, but they had actually been warned not to because the Saudi Arabian plane was flying at that altitude.
The planes collided, killing all 349 people on both planes. It was the world's deadliest mid-air collision.
The Tenerife Airport Disaster
On March 27, 1977, two planes collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport, now called Tenerife Airport.
A terrorist incident at a nearby airport caused a number of flights to be redirected to Los Rodeos Airport, where visibility was poor due to fog.
The native languages of the crews involved were Dutch on one plane, English on the other, and Spanish in the control tower. The crews had difficulties understanding each other in English because of their accents, and they were confused by the vague language used when asking for permission to take off.
The planes, which were unable to see each other in the fog, collided when one plane tried to take off, wrongly thinking it had permission to do so. The resulting fires killed 583 people, with only 61 surviving, making it the deadliest airline accident in history.
Questions:
What do you think of this article?
Have you ever had a trouble because of English?
Have you ever very benefited from being able to speak English?
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Why do you study English?
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Is there any thing which made your English improved dramatically in your life?
Is there any thing or any way which made your English improved dramatically in your life?