Advanced Technology Aircraft Safety Survey Report - Australian ...

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AIRCRAFT SAFETY SURVEY REPORT
26
Communication
Thirty-seven per cent of respondents reported that there had been times when the other pilot
had not told them something they needed to know for the safe conduct of the flight (see fig.
B7.2).
A statistically significant difference was observed between the responses of Australian and
Singaporean pilots (on the basis of nationality). Singaporean pilots were more satisfied with
the level of communication than Australian pilots. This may reflect differences in cultural
traits between Anglo-Europeans and Asian groups (see Hofstede 1980).
FIGURE 87.2
There have been times when the other pilot has not told me something I needed to
know for the safe conduct of the flight
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
~
35.33% 35 .. 17y.- .
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree No Response
Table B7.2 suggests a trend toward a significant difference (0.07522) between pilots with
different first languages. Captains who spoke English as their first language tended to perceive
more communication difficulties when compared to captains who spoke an Asian language.
The reasons for this difference are not clear; however, the difference in the sample size may
have affected the reliability of this result.
Table B7.2
'There have been times when the other pilot has not told me something I needed to
know for the safe conduct of the flight.'
English Asian European
Captain 41.5% (261/628) 25.6% (1 1 /43) 52.6% (10/19)
First officer 35.5% ( 148/4 17) 36.3% ( 1 2/3 3) -