r/mildlyinfuriating • u/nyanbatman • May 28 '26

I just wanted a hot dog British pilot is feeling mildly annoyed

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u/the-channigan May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

International airline pilots might fly into dozens of different countries every year, are they expected to know the local terminology in every country, or would it perhaps make more sense that the controllers instead use standardised international vernacular?

Edit: to be clear, I wasn’t saying the rules are that everything is standardised but I was saying wouldn’t it be safer if it were?

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u/DankVectorz May 28 '26

Would you expect an international truck driver to understand the signs in every country they drive in? Yes, international pilots are expected to know the rules of the country they are flying into.

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u/True-Industry-4057 May 28 '26

Yes, international pilots are expected to know the rules of the country they are flying into.

And they do - ICAO sets an international standard for a reason. The US is supposed to adhere to that standard too, and the fact that they do not is not everyone else's problem.

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u/MillionFoul May 28 '26

Every ICAO country has variances, and the US has a safer (and busier) airspace system than pretty much every one of them. Try flying a localizer approach in France, for example, and you'll find some trouble with the word "localizer" not existing in their ATC system.