Question

2. Read the following three mis-communication cases and (a) identify the barriers of communication; (b) name the non-verbal communication, if any; and (c) suggest the solutions for future possible cases. (25 marks)

Case (i)

Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 disappeared in March 2014, with all 227 passengers and 12 crew aboard presumed dead. The disappearance has been one of the greatest aviation mysteries of all time. In the beginning, the Malaysian Airlines head office spokesperson argued that it failed to communicate with its lost plane within the first hour. But later because of the pressure from various sources, he told the media that they detected its plane’s signal after 7.5 hours from flight. Records also revealed that the pilot of Malaysian Airlines said “All right. Good night!” instead of "Roger and out" before the plane’s disappearance.

Case (ii)

In 1990, pilots on an airline Avianca flight told controllers as they neared New York Kennedy Airport that their Boeing 707 was “running low on fuel” instead of signalling an emergency situation with the words “Mayday” or “Pan Pan”, another international distress signal. Controllers heard those words all the time so they took no special action. While the pilots knew there was a serious problem, they failed to use the key phrase – “fuel emergency”. In addition, the vocal tone of the pilots didn’t convey the severity or urgency of the fuel problem to the air traffic controllers. The controllers at Kennedy never understood the true crisis facing the pilots. The jet ran out of fuel and crashed 16 miles from the airport, killing 73 people.

Case (iii)

A hospital patient died away in 2018. An expert review found that the doctor (Dr. P), the hospital, and the nursing staff had all failed to treat the patient within an acceptable standard of care.

Dr. P admitted that he had been unaware of the patient’s blood alcohol level. When the Dr. P was questioned why he had ordered an excessive amount of hydromorphone (a drug to treat pain), he replied that he assumed that the nurses would put the appropriate monitors on the patient and would use their judgment in deciding how much hydromorphone to administer based on the patient’s response.

The nurses who were on duty on the night in question also advised that Dr. P never ordered monitoring for the patient, and never asked them about the patient’s status.

Answer 1

CASE 1 -

a. Barriers

• Lack of Attention, details.
• Physical barriers to communication
• Pressure of time
• Inability to communicate
• Communication Overload
• Lack of time

b. Non verbal communication - Airlines considered the plane as lost after an hour of flight without any verbal communication, however, it was online again after 7.5 hours.

c. It can be neglected in future by following ways:

• Proper audit of planes before takeoff.
• Strict rules for communication in Air.
• Strict rules for attention of employees.

CASE 2 -

a. Barriers:

• Pressure of situation
• Credibility gap
• Semantics and Language barrier
• Inadequate Action
• Attention in listening
• Half listening
• Resistance to change
• Vocal tones

b. Non verbal communication - signalling is the non verbal communication used in the case.

c. It can be neglected by:

• Proper training to pilots.
• Strictness to ground staff
• Proper audit of the machine before takeoff.
• On time realization of the issues.

CASE 3:

a. Barriers :

• Physical barriers maybe present but highly unlikely
• Judgement as a personal barrier.
• Status barrier such as superior subordinate relationship
• Organizational structure barrier
• Inadequate Attention on details
• Premature evaluation and half listening
• Lack of mutual trust

b. Non verbal - Assumption of doctor that nurses will put appropriate monitors on the patient.

c. Ways to neglect in future:

• Proper training to doctors and nurses.
• Increased and open interaction among staff members.
• Operation procedures are to be standard.