I'm always suspicious of stories that include a lot of anonymous quotes from people who have a financial incentive to badmouth the work of others.

I'd gladly pay more for my airline tickets, in exchange for 100% qualified mechanics repairing the planes.

If one airline in particular were to hire only 100% certified mechanics to work on their planes, I would try to fly with them exclusively.

But seriously, it should be a federal requirement that all the mechanics be 100% certified and properly trained. Hundreds of people could die to save a few bucks.

Well, as far as I know, the US does not have an "official" language. Also, wouldn't NOT hiring someone based on their ability to read violate the ADA? I mean, if having trouble remembering phone numbers and keeping track of money is a disability, certainly being Neurologically Impaired is.

@SnozberryLicker_GitEmSteveDave: I doubt that it violates the ADA by hiring somebody who can't read. That's like saying somebody violated the ADA by not hiring me as a CPA when I have no degree or experience in finance - I simply do not have the education required to perform the job at the level it needs to be performed at.

*by NOT hiring somebody who can't read.

You mean FoxNews?

I do believe the airlines push them to get the planes in the air too quickly. I also believe they are too damn cheap to pay to train people properly. Evidence? Look at how they charge us for every little thing and the rotten service and uncomfortable seats. First class have it better. Today's first class service was yesterday's coach service. Let's face it, the Airlines don't care about customers. The executives don't look to the future, just to staying long enough to get their golden parachute, pensions, bonuses, etc...and then bailing.

@SnozberryLicker_GitEmSteveDave: Actually, the aviation industry DOES require English for all pilots, world-wide, since all air traffic control communications are made in English, everywhere. Since all the manuals and components are labeled in English, it's a sensible requirement for a mechanic.

@SnozberryLicker_GitEmSteveDave: How about not being COMPETENT for the job? If your job requires being able to read the manual, you should be able to read the manual. Period. If the solution is to have someone bilingual translate the manuals, so be it.

@Julia789:

I'd happily pay less for less qualified mechanics. Considering the fact that we haven't had planes falling out of the air every day, I think it's a pretty safe bet and I'm willing to take it.

How difficult would it be to create manuals in a few othr languages?

@Julia789: I think its about a hundred people die every year to save hundreds of millions of dollars.

@The_IT_Crone: Normally I would disagree with this sentiment; the employer should never have to change to adapt to the inadequacies of the employee. In this case I'd make an exception, however, since they obviously know that these people can't read when they hire them. It wouldn't cost that much to translate the manuals into Spanish.

On the other hand, I'd be worried about a non-technical person translating something they don't understand, as well.

Many years ago I worked as a temp at a company that manufactures aircraft. Our job was to insert corrected pages into manuals (in large 3-ring binders). These manuals were for aircraft being manufactured for Arab countries, so some temps thought it was amusing to add/remove wrong pages; screw up the order of instructions; switch pages from manuals for other aircraft; etc. Management was more concerned with getting the job done than doing it right.

So the certified mechanics make more money than some of the pilots? That pilot that crashed not too long ago made roughly $39,000 right?

@nakedscience: Harder than it first seems. You need someone who is both bilingual and technically competent enough to understand the manual. I would not trust a repair carried out courtesy of Babelfish.

Unfortunately, I can vouch for the truth of much of this from my time in the airline industry. It's a little overstated, but not by much.

Aircraft maintenance manuals are written in a standard kind of international English, called "Simplified Technical English" under ASD STE100 for these people. This is the standard for all maintenance manuals from Airbus and Boeing, for example.

Part of the issue here is that there is insufficient supervision on the shop floor and by the FAA. The FAA is desperately undermanned and underfunded for inspecting these overseas shops. Many are ver good at what they do. Others, well.....

@savdavid: You mean CNN?

Something doesnt sound right. Your telling me, no one has complained about this until now?

Manuals come in like 5 languages now a days. So i dont know WTF this article is trying to tell us.

Flying to DC next week for work, at a price that is only a few bucks more expensive than it would be to drive there... this makes me feel secure.

@NeverLetMeDown: Good point, I agree with you.

@cortana: Well, we aren't talking about PILOTS. I am also refering to the United States. many countries have official languages, but again, AFAIK, the USA does not have an official language.

@The_IT_Crone: I once heard a nice story from James Randi. He took a job verifying the translation of instruction manuals being translated. He found a few glaring errors, and reported them. B/c the person who translated them originally was high up in the company, they refused to point out the errors for fear of insulting the translator. I also have to agree w/Godlyfrog, in that do you really want a non-tech person trying to explain a complex task?

@MichaelBrazell: Makes you wonder if your car mechanic/assembly line worker/industrial robot all speak/understand English, eh?

@Can'tReadEnglish_GitEmSteveDave: I'd rather have them have some clue from reading something poorly translated than no clue from not reading at all.

Honestly, if the war ever ends, we'll have an influx of trained mechanics looking for jobs, and maybe the problem will fix itself.

@Coles_Law: I would hope that at least one of the supervisors is bilingual.

Pull one of them off the job for a few months, offer him a bonus, and tell him to get writing.

Or hire someone with outside experience.

Solution: have the INS raid the place.

Flyers should also be aware that many airlines have outsourced their maintenance to other countries. They've found it cheaper to fly the airplane to India and have it repaired by Indian mechanics than it is to keep the planes in the U.S. I'm sure there are plenty of qualified Indian mechanics but you can guarantee there is ZERO oversight from the local governments or the airlines. The airlines might think they're overseeing but they're most likely speaking to the well-educated proper English speaking owners while the actual work is being done many levels below.

In addition to safety, I also wonder how many delays and cancelled flights have been because of these non English-speaking mechanics.@Julia789:

You want cheap fares? You get cheap maintenance.

Most US carriers outsource their aircraft maintenance -many offshore - to Latin America, Singapore, China, Dubai....

Feel safer now?

[www.businessweek.com]

[www.dallasnews.com]

@godlyfrog: It actually would cost quite a lot to have them translated into Spanish or any other language even without special consideration for technical skill or accuracy.

I work with translation as part of my job. Many of our international customers ignore the translated manuals entirely and use the English ones because they find the translation quality so bad.

If the manufacturers provide translations, they'd have legal liability for the translation accuracy. My guess is that they have no compelling reason to provide translations, and in fact, not providing them would put them on safer footing legally.

An example: The local light rail recently installed new emergency exit instruction posters. When the train is on an elevated structure, you should not exit to the edges of the structure, "where a falling hazard exists". The Spanish tells you to not exit to the edges "because something can fall on you". The problem really is that the English is written ambiguously for translation. Well, really, the English is just written badly by any criteria. The real danger: If you exit from the edges, you might fall. Which, of course, everyone knew long before the transit authority's lawyers entered the picture, and probably understood better than they do know with the ambiguous English and the incorrect Spanish.

And finally, not my industry, but I have heard at conferences that some of these companies provide specific doc sets for each aircraft that goes out the door -- like if the car manufacturer had a specific owner's manual for each VIN.

@Wombatish: Note your word "if".

@Julia789: I believe that the cost of the ticket includes paying for certified mechanics, however, in the interest of making money, that went out the window.

@I Love New Jersey: Who? I'd rather have ICE.

@Wombatish: Being able to speak spanish and being able to write spanish are not the same thing. Not that grammar and spelling would matter too much since these mechanics may not be able to read spanish either.

This is ridiculous! Airplanes people? come on. what is the FAA getting paid to do? what's next, the FAA doesn't conduct background checks? they hire illegals to work for less than $10 an hour? If they can make "user's guides", "instruction manuals", and tv guide's in french/spanish/english... i'm sure the FAA could ask for a bi-lingual version. I guess i'm sorta happy the Military Aircraft are "maintained" appropriately.

I'd be safer knowing my tax dollars are doing to coloring/pop-up books that people can see in color pictures on how to maintain an airplane.

@TheBursar: I think its about a hundred people die every year to save hundreds of millions of dollars.

When you phrase it that way it sounds terrible.

@Can'tReadEnglish_GitEmSteveDave: Many hiring managers do not understand what "competent in English means."

I used to work at a call center and some of the people they hired that were supposedly efficient English speakers were anything but.

On a sidenote, I know many mechanics who aren't the best readers or spellers but have tremendous mechanical aptitude and can fix just about anything.

Sad that what's hardly a new problem still hasn't been fixed. Though it occurred outside of the US, a large factor in the the 1972 crash of Turkish Airlines 981 was an illiterate baggage handler who didn't properly latch a cargo door.

@Can'tReadEnglish_GitEmSteveDave:
There's a difference between a learning disability involving words and numbers and being illiterate. If you are applying for a job that requires you to read instructions, then part of your basic skill set should be the ability to read. Not hiring someone because they don't have the skills to perform their job is no less discriminatory than not hiring a lifeguard because they can't swim or not hiring a delivery boy because they can't drive.

@thnkwhatyouthnk: The pilot who died made $21/hr.

@NeverLetMeDown: I feel the same about this article that is clearly biased.

@nakedscience: I think it is better to train the mechanics to speak proper English. For one thing, translating would require a significant investment of resources:

1. You have to hire translators who not only know the target language inside and out in a general sense but also know the specialized aeronautics jargon used in the target language. Few people are able to do this.

2. In this context, errors cost lives so the translation has to be double-checked.

3. Updates to the original manuals are frequent, so the translation work is never "done".

To sum up, this is much more costly than translating Hallmark cards or cat food ads.

Then there are problems which translating manuals does not help with:

4. There is always going to be a delay between the production of the original manuals in English and their availability in any other language. What are mechanics who can't speak English supposed to do in the interim?

5. Translating the manuals does not help much with communication between coworkers. Mechanics should all speak a common language.

English is not my mother tongue. I could communicate well in technical computing-jargon English earlier than I was able to discuss the weather in English. Goal-oriented training is the key.

@Julia789: You may gladly pay more. How about the rest of the market you're in who just needs to fly at the lowest possible cost?

Seems to me that all you'd have to do to ensure qualified mechanics is have them pass tests related to their jobs. What does this label mean? What does this warning say? How do you perform such-and-such a task?

Planes are not falling out of the sky left and right due largely to non-English-speaking mechanics. This sounds like another one of those xenophobic attacks on immigrants. I expect more of these as the recession continues.

@savdavid:

Most of the time, yes.

@Can'tReadEnglish_GitEmSteveDave: If you mean "neurological impairement" for "speaking a different language," you have to go check yourself for neurological impairment and a very bad case of mental retardation.

@boomersix:

Notably less often than Fox News.

@nakedscience:

Honestly is may be pretty hard because other languages may not have words for all the technical parts and airplane nomenclature used in a sophisticated manual.

@MichaelBrazell:

It sure as hell should make you feel more secure. You're still an order of magnitude safer flying than driving.