B757-200 international relief officer reported an airborne conflict on arrival into lfpg that was ap...

Narrative:

On the LUKIP7E arrival into cdg; ATC cleared our flight to descent from FL280 to FL230; which was clearly understood by all pilots aboard and read back correctly. Minutes later; our TCAS annunciated a traffic alert (aircraft visually sighted) and french ATC subsequently issued a turn for our aircraft away from the intruding traffic. The pilot flying took evasive action and the traffic conflict was resolved. No other further discussion from french ATC followed; further reinforcing our belief that this was an ATC handling error. Regardless of 'blame'; language accents may have played a factor in this event. Further; controllers overseas; despite ICAO guidelines that english be the primary language for communication and the fact that both pilots and controllers are fluent in english; still use native tongue when handling home-country aircraft. This reduces situational awareness for players who don't speak the language. This is particularly evident in the terminal environment and ground operations. At this point; the only recommendation to make is for foreign pilots to keep their heads on a swivel. Also; annunciate and speak clearly when communicating with controllers and use precise phraseology.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757-200 International Relief Officer reported an airborne conflict on arrival into LFPG that was apparently due to a Controller error. Reporter cited Controller's accent as contributing.

Narrative: On the LUKIP7E arrival into CDG; ATC cleared our flight to descent from FL280 to FL230; which was clearly understood by all pilots aboard and read back correctly. Minutes later; our TCAS annunciated a traffic alert (aircraft visually sighted) and French ATC subsequently issued a turn for our aircraft away from the intruding traffic. The pilot flying took evasive action and the traffic conflict was resolved. No other further discussion from French ATC followed; further reinforcing our belief that this was an ATC handling error. Regardless of 'blame'; language accents may have played a factor in this event. Further; controllers overseas; despite ICAO guidelines that English be the primary language for communication and the fact that both pilots and controllers are fluent in English; still use native tongue when handling home-country aircraft. This reduces situational awareness for players who don't speak the language. This is particularly evident in the terminal environment and ground operations. At this point; the only recommendation to make is for foreign pilots to keep their heads on a swivel. Also; annunciate and speak clearly when communicating with controllers and use precise phraseology.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1276991
Time
Date	201506
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	LFPG.Airport
State Reference	FO
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	STAR LUKIP7E
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying Relief Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict

B757-200 international relief officer reported an airborne conflict on arrival into lfpg that was apparently due to a controller error. Reporter cited controller's accent as contributing.