I am a retired ATC out of SFO. I worked SFO Bay Approach at NCT (Area B)and we dealt with foreign pilots on a regular basis.
If you get a couple of them on frequency at the same time and you are having a problem with them reading back your clearances in a manner that you think is correct and you have to keep going back to them to verify, you can “go down the shitter” pretty quick.
That is one issue.
I can’t verify, but I have heard that the requirement to speak English (the universal language in ATC) is very lax. This would not surprise me from my experience. A few have told me that it is just a matter of them checking a box on a form.
Here is an issue that is not being brought up and might be a factor in this accident. Cockpit/Crew Resource Management CRM is a bit different in the Asian Culture. There is a tendency to not question your superiors. This can have disastrous consequences in the cockpit.
I am not sure about the dynamics that were in play on this flight with training going on etc... but someone should have said something sooner.
I have always felt that it would be very very easy for a reporter looking for a story to get a scanner and monitor the traffic at SFO or any other international airport and document just how bad the language barrier is.
Also read just now that at least one of the pilots that was being interviewed was using a translator. HMmmmmmmm..... That does not surprise me at all.
We used five elements of CRM/CLR.
Inquiry...what is happening here?
Advocacy...should you do this? Better to do this way?
Conflict Resolution...talk it over..
Decision Making...Captain’s decision based on crew input.
Critique...How did we do? How could we have done it better?
Works every time and not just in Flying! I doubt that the CVR will reveal anything of the above, in translation.
I probably talked to you a few times inbound to SFO. Thanks for your doing a good job!