No matter what equipment one is working with in aviation, there is always a person behind a machine or device whether it is in its production, maintenance or operation. There are a number of ways to give students a sense of the contributing factors a pilot, an air traffic controller (ATC) or a mechanic routinely faces. On the highest level, potential airmen and air traffic controllers have different types or simulators, providing various degrees of complexity and realism to train on. Although such sophisticated equipment is usually missing in the university classroom, various types of gaming software can be put to good use to allow students to experience the conditions these professionals in aviation face. This paper examines how students, despite being repeatedly briefed on the importance of safety, are still prone to make human errors partially due to working with English as a second language. It focuses on how factors such as a lack of communication, distractions (a lack of awareness), a lack of knowledge and a lack of assertiveness are shown to affect student outcomes just as they do in real tower -pilot interactions. It more specifically looks at how „these lacks“ lead to confusion resulting in problems with ambiguity and inference which lead to critical situations. In order to gauge the results, the teacher and students have monitored, recorded and exchanged information during the course of their lessons.

Keywords: Hearback, airside, landside, chunking, diochotic listening, cocktail effect, IFR, VFR.