Short Final

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • A student doctor, unfamiliar with flying and with English as a second language, experienced increasing discomfort during a flight.
  • After a normal landing, she expressed relief, believing they had just survived an emergency.
  • Her perceived emergency stemmed from mishearing the aircraft's call sign "Mike Victor Lima" as the pilot discussing "my big dilemma," highlighting challenges in communication.
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Royal Flying Doctor Service was flying a B200 IFR out of Broken Hill, Australia and had a young student doctor in the right seat, who was unfamiliar with flying and for whom English was a second language. As the flight progressed, the pilot noticed the student becoming more and more uncomfortable and, after a normal landing, noted an undue amount of relief on the student’s face.

Pilot:
“Why are you so relieved?”

Student Doctor:
“Because we survived the emergency.”

Pilot:
“Err, what emergency?”

Student Doctor:
“You know. I heard you on the radio talking about ‘my big dilemma.'”

(She had misheard the call sign “Mike Victor Lima” … .


Duane Stace
via e-mail

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