Non-English reading mechanics are repairing and maintaining American commercial aircraft. According to News 8 out of Dallas/Fort Worth, there is evidence that repair facilities in Texas have hired low wage, non-English reading mechanics to perform repair and maintenance work on commercial aircraft.Needless to say, repairing airplanes is a complicated business. Airplanes have many manuals. Typically, when mechanics make a repair, they open a manual, consult the manual, and make the repairs step-by-step. They make a list of every action they take, so the next person to fix the plane (as well as the people who fly it) will know exactly what has been done. English is the international language of aviation. If mechanics cannot read English then they cannot properly document the repairs and present a real risk that the repairs themselves are not done properly. According to this news report, the FAA is doing a poor job of oversight of the repair facilities. Read more about this disturbing story here.
