Mayday: Assessing Pilots’ Communication Ability in Simulated Emergencies

Effective radio communication is paramount to aviation safety, particularly during non-standard or emergency events where standard phraseology fails and plain language must be deployed. While the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) mandates a minimum Language Proficiency Requirement of Level 4 (Operational), current training and testing standards face growing scrutiny regarding their real-world validity under high-workload conditions. This study investigates the ability of non-native English-speaking student pilots holding an ICAO Level 4 rating or higher (91% ICAO Level 4, 9% Level 5) to execute standard distress calls during simulated emergencies, comparing their operational performance in both their native language (Turkish) and English. The findings reveal a significant degradation in communication performance during the English scenario compared to the native language scenario. The performance variation demonstrates that the dual demand of managing a critical system failure while communicating in a second language triggers cognitive overloading and fatigue, severely depleting working memory. The study strongly advocates for the integration of high-workload, non-standard emergency tasks within practical Aviation English testing and training paradigms to ensure genuine operational safety.