As a pilot I regularly visit Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and have noticed that air traffic controllers use French (on the ground and in the air) when speaking to French aircraft crews. Not everybody understands French, so this decreases other pilots' positional awareness relative to other aircraft. Non-French-speaking pilots do not have a clue about the intentions of other aircraft.
In May 2000, this probably cost the life of a Shorts pilot who was decapitated by the wing of a Boeing MD-80 during its take-off roll. The advice of the French safety board was that controllers at big international airports speak only English to all aircraft. This is still not implemented, despite the fact that the controllers speak English and the French pilots speak English outside France. This has cost lives and will do so again. It is with relative simple measures that one improves flight safety. Let's start with that.
Jos van Schaik
The Netherlands
Editor's note: the French Bureau Enquetes Accidents recommended that the civil aviation authority (DGAC) should study whether English should be the only ATC language at French international airports. This has not been done.
Source: Flight International
