KLM Captain to assume that the word ‘Okay’ was the complete message

It seems likely that this caused

the KLM Captain to assume that the word ‘Okay’ was the complete message. In any

event the KLM Captain then took off and collided with the Pan-Am Jumbo killing a total

of 573 people. The investigators commissioned by the American Airline Pilots

Association concluded that this was the most likely explanation of events. They also

commented on the ambiguous use of the term ‘take-off’. Their comments on the use of

the telm ‘Okay’ were as follows:

The word (or letters) ‘O.K.’ can be ambiguous also: to the controller it was either a word

of acknowledgement or a delaying term to allow a moment to think. It can also mean a

host of other things, such as a state of well being, a check off of a task accomplished, or

a statement of approval. It could have had the latter meaning for the KLM crew.

Cultural differences can obviously present barriers to effective communication as well.

Some of the cultural barriers-such as language-are obvious but there may be more

hidden obstacles. A recent example given to me which illustrates this point concerned

the communication between the male Asian workers and the female canteen workers in

a London factory.