Is a failure to communicate.
China Southern Airways has a lousy safety record. Maybe one reason for that is that they do not speak the language of aviation:
A Japanese air safety board investigating a 2007 incident in which a China Southern Airlines plane that entered a runway without permission has determined that the poor English ability of the Chinese pilot and copilot were the cause of the mistake:
In its report, the Japan Transport Safety Board of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said of the incident at Chubu Centrair International Airport in Aichi Prefecture that the pilot and the copilot had either misunderstood or failed to catch the instructions.
However, China Southern officials rejected the assertion, according to the report.
Hmmmmmmmmm. I’ll stick to airlines I know something about.
You just know the ATC wanted to say, “English mutha-fucka, do you speak it!?”