This has to be one of the most hilarious cases of miscommunication that I’ve seen between pilots and air traffic controllers, as flagged by PYOK.
In this post:
TAP Air Portugal toilet problem mistaken for pilot emergency
This incident happened on a recent TAP Air Portugal flight between Lisbon, Portugal (LIS), and Nice, France (NCE). The flight was operated by a 106-seat Embraer E190, and at some point during the flight, the lavatories became inoperable.
This wasn’t an issue worth declaring an emergency over, though obviously it was unpleasant for all onboard, and the pilots tried to get priority landing, to minimize the inconvenience. However, this caused an absolutely massive miscommunication, which seemingly stems from the word “toilet” being misunderstood as “pilot.”
Here was the initial part of the communication:
TAP Air Portugal pilot: “Just for information, we have some problems with the toilets on board. We don’t have it operational, and we need to land as soon as possible at Nice. So, that’s why we are asking for a more direct route to Nice and more speed, if possible.”
Air traffic controller: “Just say again your request.”
TAP Air Portugal pilot: “We are requesting more speed if possible, until flight level 100 at least, and more direct route. We don’t have toilets onboard during our flight of today, that’s why we need to land as soon as possible because of the passengers.”
Air traffic controller: “Copy, are you declaring an emergency?”
TAP Air Portugal pilot: “No, we are not declaring an emergency. Just help on this situation and a more direct route and an increase in speed if possible.”
The TAP Air Portugal plane was then handed over to the next air traffic controller, where the situation went downhill:
TAP Air Portugal pilot: “We are asking for help because we have a problem onboard, but we are not declaring an emergency. We are just asking for some help to land as soon as possible. We don’t have toilets, so this has been in all of our flight today, so that’s why we are trying to ask for some help to land as soon as possible. But we are not declaring a Pan Pan or Mayday for now.”
Air traffic controller: “I don’t understand, what is the issue?”
TAP Air Portugal pilot: “We don’t have toilets. There are no operative toilets, so the passengers need to land so they can relieve themselves.”
Air traffic controller: “Just to be sure, you have the autopilot which is out of work?”
TAP Air Portugal pilot: “No sir, we have the autopilot functioning properly. Our problem is with the toilets. For now, it doesn’t matter anymore. We are not declaring anything. We just need to arrive as soon as possible. That’s all.”
Air traffic controller: “Your pilot has a medical problem?”
TAP Air Portugal pilot: “Sir, I will say again. We don’t have a medical problem. We just don’t have toilets. But that doesn’t matter anymore. We just need to land. I will explain better on the ground. But for now, we are not declaring anything.”
Air traffic controller: “Alert status, alert status, alert status for a traffic that we suspect having no pilot able to operate the aircraft. I’m not sure I understand. You said you had no pilot on board?”
TAP Air Portugal pilot: “Our operation is normal, sir. We would like to proceed with the arrival normally.”
Air traffic controller: “You said before you had no pilot?”
TAP Air Portugal pilot: “I didn’t say that. We will speak on the ground for now, we just need to do our approach.”
You can listen to the communication for yourself below.
This is kind of hilarious and ridiculous
It’s nice to have an air traffic control situation that for once doesn’t involve a NYC-area controller with a bad attitude who is on a power trip. 😉
English is of course the international language for air traffic control, but the challenge is that English isn’t the first language of many pilots and air traffic controllers, and that can make communication complicated.
It seems that the challenge here stems from the similarities between the words “toilet” and “pilot.” Air traffic controllers seemingly understood that the plane was without operational pilots, rather than without operational toilets. Talk about an important detail. Perhaps this is one of the situations where using the word “lavatory” would come in handy.
I suspect because English was no one’s first language, they might not have picked up on how that was the source of the miscommunication, complicating things further.
While miscommunication with air traffic controllers happens, I’ve never heard anything quite to this level before…
Bottom line
The pilots of a TAP Air Portugal plane had a major miscommunication with air traffic controllers in France. The pilots were hoping for priority on approach due to inoperable toilets, which the air traffic controllers misunderstood that to mean that the plane didn’t have pilots.
What’s so wild is that no matter how much clarification was provided, there was no clarity between the two parties.
What do you make of this TAP Air Portugal air traffic control communication?
As long as the opposite does not happen… “mayday mayday we have no pilot” “do you need to go to the toilet?”
On JFK and LGA ATC vids everyone in the comments is always complaining about nonstandard ICAO phraseology on comms and lamenting how the yuropeeans do it so much better.
Time for the peanut gallery to shove a sweaty sock in their mouths.
Honestly, I am very surprised that the TAP pilots nor the air traffic controllers do not speak French or Portuguese respectively. They rather learn their more closely Romance language over a dated language that less and less people are pursuing. Why haven't people learned that the sun has set already?
TAP pilots routinely speak to controllers with dozens different native languages. French ATC handles pilots from literally all over the planet. How many languages do you expect these people to learn?
English is the lingua franca of the continent, not just in aviation. Anyone who made it past high school in the last 20 years speaks it to some extent. Portuguese is, frankly, of an extremely limited use in Europe. French a bit more,...
TAP pilots routinely speak to controllers with dozens different native languages. French ATC handles pilots from literally all over the planet. How many languages do you expect these people to learn?
English is the lingua franca of the continent, not just in aviation. Anyone who made it past high school in the last 20 years speaks it to some extent. Portuguese is, frankly, of an extremely limited use in Europe. French a bit more, but still only really works in France and Wallonia, elsewhere you'll get by much more easily in English.
'Muricans and their understanding of the world...
I've noticed that in lots of non-English-speaking countries, people don't use the word "toilet" when speaking in English. They always seem to use "bathroom" instead. I don't know if people who do know the word "toilet" think it is impolite, but I find it common for people to not even know the word.
Adamantly not wanting to declare an emergency, even a panpan, multiple times should have been a clue to the ATC that the situation was more under control than would be a flight with no pilots. I wonder if there is a bit of chauvinism at play and the ATC is conflating female voice with "not a pilot".
Yes, obviously switch words to lavatory, bathroom, head, etc... anything but toilet apparently.
But besides this obvious easy fix, ATC kept asking about pilots and TAP said "no" multiple times. Shouldn't that tip you off?
What I have noticed in life and especially in professional settings, people think your question is a magnitude of ten times more complex than it actually is. I often start by saying, "I have a simple question..." just to...
Yes, obviously switch words to lavatory, bathroom, head, etc... anything but toilet apparently.
But besides this obvious easy fix, ATC kept asking about pilots and TAP said "no" multiple times. Shouldn't that tip you off?
What I have noticed in life and especially in professional settings, people think your question is a magnitude of ten times more complex than it actually is. I often start by saying, "I have a simple question..." just to lower expectations. Who knows, I'm just spitballing that maybe that would have helped here.
It's amazing that worldwide aviation is dependent on analog staticky 1940s-era push-to-talk microphones, everyone speaking English (aviation was first developed by the English and the Americans), and no textual communication.
Lol. Most native anglophones can barely spell in English.
henare did you blow your teacher to get top grades in English?
I could hear the pilot rolling her eyes by the midpoint of the video. That said, the word "lavatory" or "restroom" would have saved some headache here.
It sounded like the pilot was saying pilots. You would think after the third time being questioned she would have had the bright idea to use a word other than toilet. Instead she was just dismissive of them when clearly they were confused about what was said.
I was fast to preemptively put the blame on NCE ATC.. but after hearing the recording.. the more I hear it.. the more it sounds like PILOT instead of TOILET, and she's vocabulary seems so limited that in so many interactions hinting they couldn't grasp the world, she's not able to try with LAVATORIES
Poor pax ... they were TrAPed & couldn't take a crap !
Both ATC should be given some desk work and they should replace them with
English speaking staff with good accent
And pronunciation of English vocabulary
Same kind of problem happened when Japan airlines pilot mistakenly landed in juhuairport instead of Santacruz airport
In bombay ;BOM.
Agreed
Sh*t happens
But not on this flight.
TANGO - OSCAR - INDIA - LIMA - ECHO - TANGO - SIERRA is inoperable.
So Oscar from India is doing the Tango with someone from Lima while the plane is flying over the Sierras?
THIS! because the more I hear the recording, the more it sounds like PILOTS instead of toilets
This brings the issue of how ATCs and Pilots communicate. Many recordings demonstrate that it is often difficult for native English speakers to correctly understand each other over radio. Add to this the fact that sometimes in busy settings one communication is cut off by another on the same frequency. Perhaps a text based method with some drop down menus of common interactions might provide a safer interchange of information between ATCs and Pilots. Teenagers...
This brings the issue of how ATCs and Pilots communicate. Many recordings demonstrate that it is often difficult for native English speakers to correctly understand each other over radio. Add to this the fact that sometimes in busy settings one communication is cut off by another on the same frequency. Perhaps a text based method with some drop down menus of common interactions might provide a safer interchange of information between ATCs and Pilots. Teenagers seem to have no need to communicate verbally. Why should pilots and ATCs
"verbally" means "with words".
teenagers only rarely have hundreds of lives in their hands.
I listened with an open mind and it sort of does sound like "pilots". The pilot's pronunciation is actually very good, better than ATC. It appears that both people's native language is not English so they didn't pick up on cues.
ATC speaks with probably their supervisor in French which the pilots may not have heard. If they did, they don't speak French.
I wish I could speak Portuguese as well as the pilot speaks English.
On my flight yesterday I had a very good toilet :D
Or are you referring to the pilot ?
... lol
Perhaps "We have no toilets: Tango Oscar India Lima Echo Tango."
ATC: You have no pilot, a tank of car, in line at a tank to go?
You know what language that can prevent this confusion?
01000001 01001001
The arrogance of the French rules their airways. The refusal of some to acknowledge the English language spoken by other Europeans is legendary.
You seem to have read a different story than everyone else. The communication was in English. I would also note that as a European, I have no problem getting by with English in France, let alone in aviation.
He's the BA version of Tim Dunn.
He will insult everyone but can't make sense of anything except SkxTrax says BA is premium.
…. and to you Eskimo, or Mason, or Julie, or Plain Jane, or Dim Tunn, or Dym Tunn, or whoever else you are impersonating just now. Insulting the likes of you would be a complete and utter waste of one’s time. Some people are incapable of recognising such finesse, right Bro? …. :-)
One would suggest to you Samo, that you have not actually read my post, alternatively, giving you the benefit of the doubt, perhaps you do not quite understand the nuance contained therein. Regardless, thank you for your observation.
Certainly it will ‘fly’ over the heads of the likes of Eskimo and Co …. :-)
@Aero
Old poofy bean, tally ho and suck a fag.
I can’t tell if you’re taking the piss ;), Aero, or if you actually think anyone can out-arrogant the British.
Same energy as the story of the exchange between a boat and a lighthouse...
Somehow it seems inappropriate to laugh at this miscommunication. Apparently I am inappropriate. But I am also glad the control was concerned there could have been a non-potty problem.
If international aviation would adopt the Archie Bunker pronunciation of "terlets" then this situation could have been avoided. Barring that, yeah, call it a "commode" or a "lavatory" when it becomes clear that your words are being misinterpreted.
They should have channeled their inner Cousin Eddie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC7Nz0ostKA
"Shitter's full"
Very clear to everyone.
Jesus. Maybe try another word like "lavatory" after the fifth misunderstanding?
That was my first thought. I can completely see how the misunderstanding started, but lavatory is a standard international term that would be understood also.
THIS!
At first I thought the controller must’ve been an idiot, but then I listened to it and the pilot is pronouncing “toilets” like “tie-lets”, and of course the controller got confused. I wouldn’t have understood without the captions.
One is also of the opinion that the ATC operator was and probably is an arrogant “Idiot”.
The French word for toilet is ‘toilette’.
Nice is/was renowned for attracting ex Parisian ATC employees who believe themselves to be a ‘cut above’.