Miscommunication In Aviation

Communication between two people

Source: comnetwork, 2015

Communication, according to Eunson (2012) is the study of the transfer of meaning. Communication can be a very deep and difficult concept that can be studied on different levels. Without communication, the world that society currently lives in would not be able to function properly. Failing to communicate ideas or intentions is very common as a result of poor communication.  The video below shows a funny and relevant example about poor communication.

Miscommunication can occur in various instances, whether it be a message interpreted wrongly due to a language barrier or whether the message was just not received at all (Root 2015). In some cases, poor communicating can be a life or death situation. The aviation industry has incurred many instances of poor communication over the years due to language barriers. One perpetual problem that contributes to accidents is miscommunication. Communication, especially between pilots and air-traffic controllers, plays a crucial role (Tajima 2004). Hugo Bowles (2014) explained in his journal article that a lack of linguistic competence by certain personnel with different language backgrounds has been shown to be a factor of miscommunication. This contributed to three accidents in which over one thousand people were killed to numerous aviation incidents. The video below provides more evidence about how deadly linguistic mistakes can be.

Therefore, communication is a crucial part of the world and more importantly certain industries such as aviation. Without it, the industry would result in major disasters and chaos. Language barriers are a big issue in regards to miscommunication and should be monitored very closely to ensure everything is running smoothly on a  day to day business.

References:

Bowles, H 2014, 'How about getting those guys in the tower to speak English? Miscommunication, ELF and Aviation Safety', Textus, vol. 27, issue 1, pp. 86-89.

Comnetwork 2015, Communication matters, digital image, viewed 30 March 2015, http://www.comnetwork.org/category/publications/

Eunson, B 2012, Communicating in the 21st century, John Wiley & Sons, Milton.

Grapjager 2006, German coast guard trainee, video, viewed 30 March 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR0lWICH3rY

Root, GN 2015, Examples of miscommunications at the workplace, viewed 30 March 2015, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-miscommunication-workplace-11507.html

Tajima, A 2004, 'Fatal miscommunication: English in aviation safety', Word Englishes, vol. 23, issue 3, pp. 451-470.

Zuiderfilm 2011, Communication... pretty important, video, viewed 30 March 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWR8aa9MK6I