Communication between pilots to pilots, and pilots to ATC, should involve clear understanding of the message. But, there are many possible barriers in the transfer of the message that leads to improperly encoding or decoding it. These include static or noise, multiple communications, fatigue, stress and distractions. Also, the message can be incomplete or worded ambiguously. There can be a lack of credibility in decoding the message or lack of rapport between the sender and receiver. There can be confusion about what a communicated word represents, especially if jargon is used.
Pilot error many times reflects failures in team communication and coordination. There could be a communication barrier because of subordination problems. The Pilot in Command is the final authority for the operation of the aircraft. The First Officer should be an assertive individual and subordinate to the pilot as a team. But it can be difficult for the First Officer to speak up to his superior if he thinks the pilot is in error. This could have tragic results. Also, there can be cultural differences between pilots. This could lead to communications that are interpreted differently, especially in heavy workload situations during flight.
There can be deficiencies between pilots and air traffic controllers. Many times controllers in foreign countries are deficient in the English language, and talk with accents, dialects and semantic misinterpretations. ATC personnel can also have a difficult time understanding the pilot because of his accent. "Readbacks" or "hearbacks" represent another communication barrier. The pilot needs to confirm that instructions given by the controller have been understood and will be followed. But, the controller may not properly understand a readback. For example, the pilot could read back that she has clearance for 16,000 feet when she actually has clearance for 14,000 feet, and the controller may not hear back the discrepancy.
Pilots and ATF personnel are highly trained to react in times of emergency, and communication between pilots and ATF have avoided accidents and saved lives. An example is a split-second communication between an Air India pilot and controller that aborted the plane's take-off and halted a bad collision.
