Most boys dream of becoming pilots when they grow up. Some go ahead to train and get licensed and actually achieve their childhood goal. Others… well, others go ahead and forge their own license and pray that no one will catch them. Believe it or not that’s what happened today At Schipol Airport, in Amsterdam (Netherlands).
According to the news seen here, here and here, a Swedish 41-year-old man was arrested when preparing for what would be a flight from Amsterdam to Ankara, Turkey. Apparently, Swedish authorities had alerted the Dutch about him, because he had already tried something similar in Sweden a few years back. The man claimed to have been flying for at least 13 years in several international airlines and supposedly had at least 10,000 flight hours. He allegedly had a license to fly smaller planes for some time, although it is unclear whether it was valid or not.
Have you noticed the words in bold italics? They all express the idea of uncertainty. That means that the information given is not confirmed or cannot be proved. It’s crucial to pay attention to these markers when reading anything, not to be misled by untrue information… Newspapers use this strategy a lot, beware!!
Besides, ICAO says that pilots must be able to use this kind of language in order to get level 4. Are you?
Just two years after its launch in January 2008, the Santos Dumont English Assessment, ANAC’s version of the test to certify pilots for ICAO’s Language Proficiency Requirements, is already undergoing changes, as seen on its webpage. Meanwhile, pilots are not able to book tests at ANAC, only at the certified testing centers (Academia da TAM and Skyline Training Center) and only the Proficiency test is being applied.
So what’s going to happen? Is the Pre-test being discontinued?
Well, the Pre-test has always been a peculiar aspect of the Santos Dumont English Assessment. I have to admit that at first I didn’t think it reading should be part of the test at all. ICAO clearly mentions in their Manual for the Implementation of Language Proficiency Requirements that tests should be oral. But after a while I realized it would be a good tool to filter candidates and make the most of the examiners. The Pre-test does not test the abilities required from pilots to be on level 4, it just eliminates those candidates who are below level 3, and therefore would be wasting the examiner’s time if they were taking the Proficiency Test.
So what do you think should be changed? What should the new test be like “to better serve the users”, as published on ANAC’s website?
Comment this post! Participate! This is an important discussion that can affect your career!
Apenas dois anos após sua implantação em Janeiro de 2008, o Santos Dumont English Assessment, a versão da ANAC para o teste que certifica os pilotos ao nível 4 das Exigências de Proficiência Linguística da ICAO, já está passando por uma reestruturação, como pode ser visto em seu site. Enquanto isso, os pilotos não podem agendar seu teste na ANAC, apenas nos centros credenciados (Academia da TAM e Skyline Training Center), e apenas o Proficiency Test está sendo aplicado.
Então, o que vai acontecer? Será que o Pre-test vai ser eliminado?
Bem o Pre-test sempre foi um aspecto peculiar do Santos Dumont English Assessment. Admito que no começo achei que leitura não deveria fazer parte da prova. A ICAO diz claramente em seu Manual para a Implementação das Exigências de Proficiência Linguística que o teste deve ser oral. Mas depois percebi que o Pre-test seria uma boa ferramenta para filtrar os candidatos e otimizar o tempo dos exminadores. O Pre-test não testa as habilidades necessárias para que um piloto atinja o nível 4, apenas elimina os candidatos que estão abaixo do nível 3, e que portanto representariam uma perda de tempo aos examinadores caso fizessem o Proficicney test.
Então, o que você acha que deve mudar? Como o novo teste deveria ser “para melhor atendimento de seus usuários”, como publicado no site da ANAC?
Comente este post! Participe! Esta é uma discussão importante que pode afetar sua carreira!
I’m sure most of you, pilots, have already seen at least one video about this accident, if not this one. But my point here is not to bring you a new video, but to talk about some fundamental points to increase clarity in your communications.
The accident with US Air flight 1549 happened in New York City on January 15, 2009. All the people involved, pilots and controllers alike, were native speakers of English, but even so, the controllers found it hard to understand what the pilot was saying and had to rely on a relay from another aircraft to grasp the message he was trying to give them: “I think we’re going to end up in the Hudson!”
Watch the video and check the following points:
1) Both the pilot and the controller mistake the call sign (the flight is 1549)
2) Notice how the controller asks the pilot to repeat his intentions because he didn’t understand the first time (1min37seconds) and simply gives the pilot another option of runway when he doesn’t answer, unaware that he is already performing a ditching.
3) Nobody uses standard phraseology – they’re all using general English for aviation (which is exactly what ICAO and ANAC want you to be able to do – when strictly necessary).
So, what happened here? Isn’t the pilot a level 4? Isn’t the controller a level 4? What happened was human nature. Allow me to explain.
We human beings are creatures of habits. Have you ever noticed how you always soap up in the same order when you shower? Believe me, you just do. Pilots and controllers are human beings, and are trained to follow specific procedures, sometimes repetitive. This makes it hard for us human beings (including pilots and controllers) to realize when something out of the ordinary has happened. Maybe not so much realize, but believe.
When the pilot said he had had a bird strike, the controller immediately reacted by acknowledging this fact, vectoring him back to the airport and halting traffic in the vicinity. Bird strikes happen, and this is what he is trained to do in such events. Immediately afterwards, controllers start discussing the options and offering the pilot some viable alternatives. Again, it can’t have been the first time this has happened.
Now, pay close attention when the pilot first says he may have to land on the Hudson River (42 seconds). Did the controller acknowledge? His next message to 1549 starts with ‘alright’, but it’s quite clear that he hasn’t really taken in the vital piece of information that he was given. The pilot then asks for other suggestions, and this message is clearly understood by the controller (1 min to 1 min 6 seconds). Well, everyone who works in that area is aware that there is a river there called Hudson and an airport called Teterboro; however, the controller didn’t seem to understand it when the pilot said ‘we may end up in the Hudson’, but immediately caught ‘Teterboro’. Isn’t it funny?
Go ahead to 1 min 27 seconds, when the controller offers the pilot runway 1 at Teterboro Airport. The pilot answers simply ‘we can’t do it’, and the controller then asks him to choose a runway at Teterboro. He still hasn’t gotten the idea. When the pilot says again that they will have to land in the Hudson River, the controller asks him to repeat and goes on giving him options until another pilot in another aircraft interferes and clarifies it for him.
Why did this happen? Because landing in the Hudson is not the first option when you have a technical problem after taking off from New York – well, it isn’t the second either. So although the pilot – a native speaker – was perfectly clear when he stated his intentions and the controller – another native speaker – was perfectly able to understand what he had said, it just didn’t make sense, so he simply didn’t process the information.
Let’s go straight to the lessons learnt from this accident:
1) Be as clear as possible when using radiotelephony (RT). Don’t assume that just because your English is good everyone will understand you. Repeat your messages as many times as necessary to be understood, changing the words if possible, so that you go around any occasional pronunciation or vocabulary issue.
2) Keep your ears open and really listen. Although something may sound impossible, it may be true, so trust your ears. And if you’re not sure, ask for clarification. What matters is to understand.
New students usually ask me why they are asked to describe a photograph in the Santos Dumont English Assessment (the Brazilian test to apply the ICAO language proficiency requirements). The candidate is shown a photograph on part 4, the last part of the test. By then, the examiner will most likely already have made up his/her mind about the candidate’s level. Part 4 is an opportunity for the candidate to show the examiner their vocabulary range and their language skills in general. They are supposed to describe the situation in the photograph and talk about its possible causes and consequences and say what they would have done if faced with the same situation, besides offering suggestions on how to avoid it, if that’s the case.
You see why it’s essential to have a wide range of vocabulary: there’s no way to predict what photograph you will be shown!
Give it a try with the photographs below, all taken from www.airliners.net. There are some strategies you can apply to maximize your performance in this part of the test. Let’s discuss them in class!
Santos Dumont English Assessment – Parte 4 (Foto + Perguntas)
Alunos novos sempre me perguntam por que tem que descrever uma foto no Santos Dumont English Assessment (o teste brasileiro desenvolvido para aplicar os requisitos de proficiência linguística da ICAO). O candidato tem que descrever a foto na parte 4 do teste, a última parte. A essa altura, o examinador provavelmente já terá definido o nível do candidato. A parte 4 é uma oportunidade do candidato mostrar ao examinador todo o alcance de seu vocabulário e também as suas habilidades linguísticas em geral. É preciso descrever a situação mostrada na fotografia e fazer comentários a respeito de suas possíveis causas e consequencias, e dizer o que o candidato teria feito na mesma situação, além de oferecer sugestões sobre como evitar o problema, se for o caso.
Dá para ver a importância de ter um vocabulário amplo: é impossível prever a foto que você verá!
Teste seus conhecimentos com as fotos abaixo, todas tiradas do site www.airliners.net. Há algumas estratégias que você pode utilizar para potencializar seu desempenho nessa parte do teste. Vamos discuti-las em aula!
Most boys dream of becoming pilots when they grow up. Some go ahead to train and get licensed and actually achieve their childhood goal. Others… well, others go ahead and forge their own license and pray that no one will catch them. Believe it or not that’s what happened today At Schipol Airport, in Amsterdam (Netherlands).
Carolina d'Avila English 
