Pilots Can't Understand JFK Controller

Pilots get confused with what is being asked of them while talking to ground/ramp in JFK and regional pilots jump in to help them.

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[gear]

I am surprised nobody noticed how I messed up a word while I was talking but anyway thanks for watching.

[jimcronin]

I don''t speak Portuguese but I have some Spanish and I can see in some instances that the Brazilian pilots were using English vocabulary and Portuguese grammar. That has the potential to flip questions into declarative sentences.

[jltziminadis]

4L (four left) is a hell of word combination for non-native speakers' ears. It could be easily mistaken for 'for left', which makes no sense for a native speaker but can be very confusing for non-natives. If the controller would have said 'runaway 4L' it would make things much easier...

[XKLIX]

I'm "just" a truck driver. On and of for last 30 years between other jobs like crane operator or heavy forklifts. Ive passed those 30 years without any major insedents cause i listen and learn from other people that has been in bad spots. Listen and learning from other people is good education. I belive Kelsey here is learning from everything he puts out here. And that is going to make him one of the safest pilots on the ground and in the air. I'm 50 now and i love planes. These Videos realy makes me want to take the final leap and go for a PPL. Keep up the good work, you inspire a lot of people. Sorry for my bad English.. not my native language.

[misglammer]

Thank you for your great informative videos

[esbenarndt]

I think that the controller would save a lot of time and heighten the security if he honored the fact that only native speakers or very experienced persons understand language spoken so fast, and sometime unclear because of radio interference. I think that controller stressed the pilot to near breaking point. If that controller slowed down and spoke very clear English, he would save a lode of time and blood pressure.

[lindaross]

I was a FA out of JFK in the 70s and my favorite thing was when we were ferrying a plane in with no passengers the cockpit crew would let me sit on the jump seat and listen to the ATC and pilot exchange. I loved listening in. Braniff used to get teased because of their colors and the ATC would say Your turn to land sweetheart. Good days. United was a good company to work for.

[Ghsouza]

This might be a silly question, but I am Brazilian and my english level is really advanced as I'm able to have any type of conversation with peope with the most varying accents and I have a lot of experience with the language overall, but I can't seem to understand much of what pilots or AT controllers are saying even though I (think I) know a lot about aviation since I've been a nerd about it for a long time. Anyway, my question is do you think if I were to take lessons to know nomenclature more deeply and so on I'd be able to pick it up? It seems like too much of a challenge to me even tho I consider myself 100% fluent as I communicate very easily and fluidly. I love your channel, been here a long time.

[sanguinus]

A lot of US controllers speak very lazily, slurring their speech, skipping syllables and even flat out using the wrong words. "Fox" and "Foxtrot" are two different words ffs, how is someone who doesn't speak English supposed to follow that kind of instruction?

[anodyne]

I see this Kennedy controller, who must deal with a world of non-native English speaking pilots all day long, as being partially responsible for this failure in communication, because he, for personal reasons I guess, is intent on making zero language concessions to the non-native speaking pilot–who *clearly* is having difficulty understanding him. If you want to be understood, learn to emphasize the part that is not being understood by the other party. It's not his NYC accent so much as his not being clear in *emphasizing* /stressing the important stuff. He just keeps merrily (!) repeating his instructions with the same trippy cadence, and keeps being misunderstood. My advice is don't bury the important part in a string of muddled words. I know it's a tough job, but this guy seems uniquely obstinate. I give big credit to the pilot(s) who jumped in and tried to help out.

[gang]

I live and fly in the NY area for the last few years now, and I must say that we have extremely bad communication practices in general. Unfortunately, it has become culture here.

[Rafa.]

JFK tend to do that when they're using 13/31 LR so I see where pilots flying in for the 1st time will get confused. They do the opposite when 04/22 LR is in use.

[joefrisbie]

Thanks for the content Kelsey! I always look forward to your videos.

[danielfreifeldtaisen]

Kelsie. That was a great one. Almost as good as the AirChina famous one. In my opinion if the controller said RUNWAY ZERO FOUR LEFT. instead of saying "four-left", it might have helped them. Im european airline pilot and United states is the only country in the world where you say 4L instead of 04L Then again, 1000 airplanes get this evert month and I don't think we have 1000 incidents evert month in JFK. Poor old design but, Best view on the Visual approach. Side note, I am flying to a smaller local european airport tonight. Last week that same place I got lost there and needed corrected taxi instructions. So it happens everywhere. Even on the ground, "Keep the blue side up"

[gabor-toth]

To be fair I think the controller was speaking really fast (for a foreigner's ears at least) and the South American pilot probably didn't comprehend that he was really instructed to turn onto a runway, as it's quite unnatural. Probably that's why he chose Bravo because he found going onto the runway to be possibly a bad decision. It could've been cleared up of course but with non-native English and a fast-speaking controller it was a hard situation. I wish controllers spoke slower at the first sign of confusion, just to be sure. Safety is more important than saving a few seconds by speaking (too) fast.

[jamiedbg]

Kelsey, they desperately need you to show them your method of writing 17:59 down instructions. It’s simple, accurate, fast and most importantly, really, really quite simple! I’m sure most pilots were taught something similar but being a spokesperson for issues like this is critically important to airline safety. Maybe when you are home and you have time to work it out and you could tackle the poorest English speaking pilot and the errors you see (especially at crazy Kennedy or very large international airports). I think you would be doing them a massive service and help prevent (hopefully) any accidents, present or future. You have an incredible grasp of airline instructions, directives, can speak and understand effectively what it takes to navigate an airport or around an Airport either in the skies and almost importantly incredibly challenging the most confusing airports and hoentonwrite first what you heard and institutions by giving them your process and maybe a few (or many!!) options just for situations just as this. I applaud you (over and over and over again!) for your dedication to keeping the peace and safety not only in the air (Thank you from all of us on the ground and in the air!!!) and I think, in your spare time which I know is greatly busy, for you, and write out check list; your pen, your clipboard and your callsign, (snd so much more!) and most importantly the shorthand or the process that you most effectively use but most importantly your calm demeanor and patient approach to all confusing situations and your calm nature in general when chaos and confusion
And rear their ugly heads. You have the gift of knowledge, wisdom, experience and an awesome sense of humor! These airports need people like you and while I understand that volunteering to fix their nightmare directional problems, the airports will absolutely love that you made their jobs easier. I get that the confused, pilots who DO NOT have the requisite level of the grasp of English in order to safely navigate in the air as well as the ground! I think this assignment of proposals is right up your alley. And for what it’s worth, I sincerely think hope you get paid the big bucks for your services. Just an idea, but a potentially lucrative prospect. Good luck!!!!

[alexmonroe]

"interational operations"... Spot on!😁

[robertthorne]

As a former (retired) ATC. The reason GC and Ramp don’t talk to each other (oft times) . . GC is FAA or Contract, ramp is not. One is in the FAA tower the other is in the ramp tower. I never saw that any other way. Love your channel.. keep the blue side up!

[ThePastaManCan]

AR would be so useful for these situations, line popping up showing you where to go or some little map screen.

[AIAffiliator]

Lax is kinda like that too. you gotta wait for planes to pull out before you can go into the ramp