The significant increase in the demand of pilots estimated for the upcoming years brings along several challenges in effective language training, especially in what it involves non-native speakers of English. The issuance of operational level 4 should closely observe the mastering of basic ICAO skills, namely vocabulary, structure and pronunciation, which should not be underrated or disregarded upon more pragmatic skills. The article addresses the most common language problems concerning structure and pronunciation extracted from a list based on ab-initio pilots’ oral production in order to promote reflection and discussion about perspectives and implications of these specific issues in aviation safety. It aims to offer data with reference to some specific language problems that should be addressed when designing curriculum, most specially, to the non-native English-speaking ab-initio pilots, as well as to promote a reflection on the impact that these issues might take within a framework of analysis that proposes language as a (human) factor in aviation safety
