Introduction. The present article investigates some aspects of teaching specialized English to pilots and air traffic controllers. The purpose of the article is to determine the relationship between aviation safety and the human factor in professional communication held in English.

Materials and Methods. The authors applied the statistical method to study the frequency of in-flight emergencies; the comparative method to explore curricular in Russian and foreign schools, training and retraining courses for pilots; the analytical method to reveal the causes of air incidents and the emergence of language barriers in the process of professional communication. The article described factors affecting implementation of communicative skills.

Results. The results of the study have proved the correlation between professional level of English language proficiency and the safety of air traffic control, as well as confirmed the existence of personal professional qualities required for communication in radio exchange.

Discussion. The ICAO administration ignores the difference in the amount of training hours in countries where English is not a national language; the aviation community questions the strengthening of unified testing requirements.

Conclusion. The study confirmed the role of specialized English in the overall process of training and retraining pilots and air traffic controllers as a systemically important discipline in air traffic safety management. The research findings contributed to the efficiency of training and retraining specialists using English as the second language. The results may be used in varied curricular based on computer simulators as models for integrated occupations.

• The study has presented critical analysis and arguments regarding rules to arrange and standardize requirements on international level.
• The results of the study on the causes of language barrier in the process of radio exchange between pilots and air traffic controllers are given.
• The authors suggest an effective model of training and retraining for pilots and air traffic controllers with the use of simulators on a full-time basis.

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