Language barrier may have caused near-miss in the air

Not immigration-related except that it shows how important it is for people to speak the same language. If I wanted to be mean, I could have used this headline: Cultural diversity almost causes airplane crash.

From Canadian Press via the Globe and Mail (Did language barrier cause airliner near-miss over Vancouver?, May 10, 2007):

The Transportation Safety Board is investigating whether a language barrier played a role in an incident in the skies near Vancouver International Airport in which two airliners came too close for comfort.

A Philippine Airlines Airbus 340 approaching the airport last week descended below its prescribed altitude of 2,400 metres, sending controllers scrambling to move other air traffic out of the way.

TSB investigator Damian Lawson confirmed the flight from Manila came within 2.9 kilometres laterally and 244 metres vertically of a Delta Airlines flight.

[. . .]

Read all of the CP article.

See also:

Lack of adequate English limits immigrant mobility