So it goes something like this …… there was a huge snowstorm a-brewin and a snowplow was working clearing a runway in preparation for an incoming flight at the Cranboork BC International Airport. ….. a link follows from Wikipedia that tells the facts as we know them:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Western_Airlines_Flight_314
…… but there are other versions of the story ….. I don’t know which version is closer to the truth but here goes …… this story is about one word, the word “CLEAR” ….. and how it is so easy for one person assume that another person understands. This is an extreme case but it illustrates the concern.
The Pacific Western Airline 373 (later became Westjet) was to arrive early …. because of the early arrival there were many communications, both electronic and voice between the airliner, air traffic control and the ground crew at Cranbook. The airport tower knew everything and alerted their subordinates that the plane was about to land …… including the snowplow driver …… but the truth for that driver was categorically different from that of control tower.
The Tower (and this is where the facts are unknown to many including the Wikipedia report) delivered the message as they should have and radio’d everyone to CLEAR THE RUNWAY ….. and of course they received the expected “COPY THAT” response from the ground crew including the snowplow driver ….. and likely a couple of other airport vehicles out that night …….
Visibility …….. a little over 1 kilometer.
So what’s the point? …… Well the story has it that the snowplow driver responded COPY THAT to the Tower …… but to the driver’s understanding …… the message was quite clear ……… he was being instructed by the Tower to do his job ……. to CLEAR the snow from the runway ….. that was totally reasonable expectation from the snowplow driver’s point of view ….
The PWA jet was expected to land at 13:05h ……. it was snowing hard …… the snowplow had plenty of time for one more pass at the snow covered runway …… he proceeded to CLEAR the runway!!!
Get the problem??? PWA actually landed at 12:55h …… the wiki summary tells the rest of the facts fairly well …… Flight 377 crashed into the snowplow and 42 of the 49 people onboard were killed!
CLEAR THE RUNWAY ……. two different truths …… three simple words!! Imagine the room for misunderstanding when speaking about complex ideas and feelings.
I can imagine that there are consequences that remain largely unknown …… outside the domain of facts ….. extremely consequential to the snowplow driver, the Tower staff and all of the families of the passengers and crew of Flight 377 ……
Again, clearly this is an extreme case …… but misunderstandings like this occur in our language constantly …… especially if emotions are running high ….. or alcohol …… or cannabis ….. or any other distraction can amplify this naturally occurring phenomena.
The lesson ….. be as clear as possible ….. double check meanings before making rash decisions …… one person’s truth is not always what you speaker or writer intended!
