Language Error in Aviation Maintenance: Data from Asia

Abstract

English is the language of aviation, including aviation maintenance. As more maintenance work is outsourced to non-English-speaking countries, language error may be a problem. A study of 254 maintenance personnel at nine sites in Chinese-speaking countries measured the reported incidences of seven scenarios and tested intervention effectiveness. Four of the scenarios had reported incidence of 4-5 per year, and the expected causal factors were reported. A test of interventions to work documentation revealed that participants tended to maintain a constant level of accuracy and speed to produce this level. A Chinese translation of the document was the only significant intervention, giving about a 10% speed advantage.