The pilots of a TAP Air Portugal flight from Lisbon to Nice in the Côte d’Azur got themselves into a very confusing conversation with air traffic control after they tried to ask for an expedited approach for landing when all of the toilets onboard stopped working.
The request from the pilots of the Embraer E190 regional jet seemed pretty simple – while there was no emergency onboard the 106-seater aircraft, they didn’t want the passengers to be sitting with their legs crossed for any longer than strictly necessary.
So, they asked the French air traffic controller if they could have a more direct route to Nice airport with a faster approach, potentially jumping in front of other planes that were also flying towards Nice, but without declaring an emergency.
Although both the pilots of the TAP Air flight and the air traffic controllers were speaking in English, something very clearly got lost in translation, leading to a hilarious situation that quickly escalated.
In fact, the air traffic controller was so confused about what was going on that they put Nice Airport on a state of alert for the inbound plane, thinking at one point that one of the pilots had been incapacitated before mishearing that the autopilot function had stopped working.
Here’s how the communication between the TAP Air Portugal pilot and the air traffic controller quickly descended into chaos:
Pilot: Just for your information, we have some problems with the toilets on board. We don’t have it operational, and we need to land as soon as possible at Nice. So, that’s why we are asking for a more direct route to Nice and more speed, if possible.
Air traffic controller: Just say again your request?
Pilot: We are requesting more speed if possible, until flight level 100 at least, and more direct route. We don’t have toilets onboard during our flight of today, that’s why we need to land as soon as possible because of the passengers.
Air traffic controller: Uh, copy. Are you declaring an emergency?
Pilot: No, we are not declaring an emergency. Just, uh, help on this situation and a more direct route and an increase in speed if possible.
At this point, air traffic control clears TAP Air Portugal flight 484 to increase speed, although shortly after, the situation quickly escalates.
Pilot: Just for information, we are not declaring any emergency for now.
You’d think the situation might be clear at this point, but conversations between air traffic control prove they are confused, with them discussing whether the pilots are declaring a May Day or Pan Pan.
The pilots are then passed to the next air traffic control station, where the miscommunication goes downhill.
Pilot: We are asking for help because we have a problem onboard, but we are not declaring or urgency. We are just asking for some help to land as soon as possible. We don’t have toilets, so this has been in all of our flight today, so that’s why we are trying to ask for some help to land as soon as possible. But we are not declaring a Pan Pan or Mayday for now.
Air traffic controller: I don’t understand. What is the issue?
Pilot: We don’t have toilets. There are no operative toilets, so the passengers need to land so they can relieve themselves.
If you listen to the recording of the conversation, you’ll understand why air traffic control is starting to get very confused. While the pilot initially pronounced the word ‘toilet’ very clearly, as the conversation continued, the word began to sound more and more like ‘pilot.’
This led the air traffic controllers to discuss among themselves whether one or both pilots were incapacitated, and if that was the case, why they weren’t declaring an emergency.
Air traffic controller: Just to be sure, you have the autopilot which is out of work?
Pilot: No, sir, we have the autopilot functioning properly. Our problem is with the toilets. For now, it doesn’t matter anymore. We are not declaring anything. We just need to arrive as soon as possible. That’s all.
Air traffic controller: Your pilot has a medical problem?
Pilot: Sir, I will say again. We don’t have a medical problem. We just don’t have pilots. But that doesn’t matter anymore. We just need to land. I will explain better on the ground. But for now, we are not declaring anything.
You can tell that air traffic control is now very, very confused. They are hearing that there are no pilots on board, but can’t figure out why they are not declaring an emergency. So they take matters into their own hands and put Nice Airport on alert for a possible emergency.
Air traffic controller: Alert status, alert status, alert status for a traffic that we suspect having no pilot able to operate the aircraft.
Air traffic controller: I’m not sure I understand. You said you had no pilot on board?
Pilot: Our operation is normal, sir. We would like to proceed with the arrival normally.
Air traffic controller: You said before you had no pilot?
Pilot: I didn’t say that. We will speak on the ground for now, we just need to do our approach.
Matt’s Take
To try to attempt to avoid confusion, the international language of air traffic control is regularly conducted in English, but as can be seen in this incident, that doesn’t necessarily mean that people speaking English as a second or even third language might not get confused from time to time.
Perhaps it was the pilot’s pronunciation or the air traffic controller’s understanding of the word, but the consequences were hilarious to listen to.
Glad the pilot didn’t say “Some of our passengers need to evacuate, right now.”
“Some of our passengers need to evacuate, right now., but are deterred by waste-water woozies.”
Technically, when a mechanical situation develops that shows the pilots that the flight cannot continue normally, the pilot must land at once. That means …. Fly to the nearest airport that can accommodate the aircraft and land.
In this case the pilot chose to continue to the scheduled destination but requested expedited service which was wrong. I suspect the French controller was being a prick and pretending to not understand — I’ve had that problem in France—
The confusion would probably have been avoided if the pilots had used the term “lavatories” instead of “toilets”. A point worth remembering for future reference.
He should have said “lavatories.” I can see how a non-native English speaker can be misheard to be saying “pilot” or “autopilot” by another non-native English speaker.
All this would have never happened if the (driver) Pilot, would use standard phraseology…first it’s the fault of the airline with training and then of both pilots for her poor communication skills.
Both?, If she was the FO, the Captain should have taken control long before all this circus started.