Private pilots want to keep Estonian as radio communication language

Photo: SCANPIX

The chairman of the Estonian Private Pilots Association, Raul Reap, hopes that a constructive dialogue will take place between the aviation sector and the government in the future and that the Estonian language will not disappear from radio communications.

«The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications has assured us that there is no plan to eliminate the Estonian language, it's just that in certain places perhaps it is necessary to require that only English be used. We certainly are in favor of this being done on a limited scale and that Estonian could be used as much as possible in Estonian airspace,» Reap told BNS. «The ideal scenario is that both languages are used everywhere and also, that all pilots speak them freely. Today's situation where some pilots have no English at all is far from ideal. They are - and ought to be - free to fly, but it would increase safety if they knew also English.»

On the one hand, safety would improve if all spoke English, Reap said. On the other, in certain circumstances, for example, if a pilot is in stress and needs to express himself as clearly as possible he is bound to use his mother tongue which certainly is the best option in such a situation, he explained. «Looking at the present flying situation, there are perhaps more pros for English at the Tallinn airport where traffic is international. Small airfields in the rest of Estonia and other parts of the airspace are full of Estonian-speakers and it's very important to preserve the Estonian language there.»

Reap also said that switching to English-only communications might substantially save personnel training costs, but cross-border cooperation and openness to developing joint projects is more important.