Air carrier has difficulty communicating with foreign controller.

Attributes
ACN	202883
Time
Date	199202
Day	Thu
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : lggg
State Reference	FO
Altitude	msl bound lower : 37000 msl bound upper : 37000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Large Transport, Low Wing, 3 Turbojet Eng
Flight Phase	cruise other
Route In Use	enroute airway : lggg
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : flight engineer pilot : commercial pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 800 flight time total : 13000 flight time type : 30
ASRS Report	202883
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : clearance other anomaly other other spatial deviation
Independent Detector	other controllera other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Ambiguous
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

The controller asked us to report over a fix that wasn't on our flight plan. I told him ours was different and thought we had confirmed what our route was. A little later he asked what our ETA was but we weren't going to that fix but were only approximately 5-7 mi to the north. The problem was understanding english as a second language. We even read back the information by the letters and was still misunderstood. When flying international you can never be too careful in confirming your instructions.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR HAS DIFFICULTY COMMUNICATING WITH FOREIGN CTLR.

Narrative: THE CTLR ASKED US TO RPT OVER A FIX THAT WASN'T ON OUR FLT PLAN. I TOLD HIM OURS WAS DIFFERENT AND THOUGHT WE HAD CONFIRMED WHAT OUR RTE WAS. A LITTLE LATER HE ASKED WHAT OUR ETA WAS BUT WE WEREN'T GOING TO THAT FIX BUT WERE ONLY APPROX 5-7 MI TO THE N. THE PROBLEM WAS UNDERSTANDING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE. WE EVEN READ BACK THE INFO BY THE LETTERS AND WAS STILL MISUNDERSTOOD. WHEN FLYING INTL YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO CAREFUL IN CONFIRMING YOUR INSTRUCTIONS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.