Report: U.S. aircraft repairmen not required to speak English

This should make everyone feel good as they board their next airplane flight as a newly released report from the English only advocacy group known as "English First" shows the US government does not even require that US airliner repairman speak proficient English in order to become a certified airliner mechanic.

Beautiful. Sure makes you feel like booking your next flight doesn't it? Sure is comforting to know these kind of ads are likely to be found in magazines touting the latest rage of schools available to attend for immigrants at the US taxpayer expense no doubt to pour more salt on the gaping wound called our culture or what's left of it....

Picture the late Billy Mays doing an Aircraft Repair School Commercial that starts out like this...

Report: U.S. aircraft repairmen don't speak English

(OneNewsNow.com):An English language advocacy organization is praising the efforts of several congressmen who are trying to ensure that aircraft mechanics are proficient in English.

In an investigative report, WFAA-Television in Dallas has revealed there are hundreds of lower-level repairmen, working on commercial airliners, who do not have the English skills to talk to their English-speaking supervisors or read the repair manuals, which are written in English.

While English is the international language of aviation, it is currently not necessary for mechanics to be proficient in English to repair aircraft in the United States. But as a result of the WFAA investigation, 17 members of Congress, led by Brian Bilbray (R-California), have sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, asking for changes in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules regarding the English skills of mechanics.

Aloysius Hogan, a spokesman for English First, says the congressional letter raised some serious safety concerns. 'They cite that there is evidence to believe that a mechanic's inability to read a repair manual's instructions correctly may have figured in a crash that took the lives of 21 people,' he notes. 'That's scary stuff.'"

Hogan says they apparently wanted to save money. "It is potentially lower-level mechanics who, as Congressman Bilbray has pointed out, perhaps [were] hired with the mind to saving some money. But when the safety of the American people flying on these airlines is involved, it's important that [the mechanics] speak English," he contends.

English First supports the 17 members of Congress in calling on the FAA to require mechanics to demonstrate the same level of English proficiency it requires of international pilots as set by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

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