Narrative:

We were in amazonica airspace when we began picking up non-forecasted moderate chop at cruise. I asked ATC for a ride report ahead informing them of the chop we were experiencing. They were unable to provide any information to the lack of their proficiency in english. I asked in several ways using various terms and phrases. They could not understand what I was asking. Finally another air carrier interrupted and began conversing in spanish with the controller. It was only after their conversation that I was able to get any information and the information that was provided was given to us by the air carrier. This is unacceptable. I am afraid that if we were to encounter severe turbulence ATC would be of no help in providing information. This is clearly unsafe having ATC not proficient in the english language; especially in light of the recent mishap in this same area over brazil. I find it odd that as united states licensed pilots we need to provide proof of our proficiency of the english language; yet folks who use it as a second language do not appear to be proficient at all. I believe that english is the only language that should be used by controllers per ICAO regulations. If this is true; I believe that ATC continued to violate these regulations in latin america with regularity and thereby compromising safety by contributing to an overall degradation of situational awareness for those of us who speak english.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier Captain comments that a South American Enroute Air Traffic Controller was unable to communicate with him in English after the crew asked about potential turbulence encounters ahead of their flight.

Narrative: We were in Amazonica airspace when we began picking up non-forecasted moderate chop at cruise. I asked ATC for a ride report ahead informing them of the chop we were experiencing. They were unable to provide any information to the lack of their proficiency in English. I asked in several ways using various terms and phrases. They could not understand what I was asking. Finally another air carrier interrupted and began conversing in Spanish with the Controller. It was only after their conversation that I was able to get any information and the information that was provided was given to us by the air carrier. This is unacceptable. I am afraid that if we were to encounter severe turbulence ATC would be of no help in providing information. This is clearly unsafe having ATC not proficient in the English language; especially in light of the recent mishap in this same area over Brazil. I find it odd that as United States licensed pilots we need to provide proof of our proficiency of the English language; yet folks who use it as a second language do not appear to be proficient at all. I believe that English is the only language that should be used by Controllers per ICAO Regulations. If this is true; I believe that ATC continued to violate these regulations in Latin America with regularity and thereby compromising safety by contributing to an overall degradation of situational awareness for those of us who speak English.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.