Diagnostic tool for pilots enhances airline safety
16 November 2023
Dr Maria Treadaway, Faculty of Arts, was awarded a best thesis award for her work to test the language fluency of trainee pilots
![Maria Treadaway, Faculty of Arts with Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Professor Frank Bloomfield.](/content/auckland/en/news/2023/11/16/diagnostic-tool-for-pilots-enhances-safety/_jcr_content/leftpar/imagecomponent/image.img.480.low.jpg/1700009275411.jpg)
Over the next 20 years, hundreds of thousands of pilots are going to be needed to fill the demand for international travel. English is the lingua franca – or default language – of aviation and all professional pilots need to adhere to a global standard.
However, there are no standardised measures for assessing a trainee pilot's linguistic readiness for practical flight training.
Dr Treadaway has developed and validated a diagnostic language test for student pilots who are training towards a career flying internationally. This represents the first research-based benchmark for entry into practical flight training programmes. The test has been made available to aviation training organisations worldwide to make flying safer.
To re-publish and share this video, contact Gilbert Wong, gilbert.wong@auckland.ac.nz