C172 crash at Coney Island

Corky Scott wrote:

The term is very difficult for non aviators to understand. All their
lives the term "stall" refers to their auto engine quiting, for
whatever reason. [..]
The word "stall" in aviation has so totally different a connotation
that just explaining it a non aviator is very difficult, [..]
The explanations are so different (for the same word) that I've always
felt that aviators should coin a new word to describe an aerodynamic
stall.

Yes, that might help. Then again, it might not. As a counter-example, the
German language uses two totally different words for these conditions:
engine failure = Motorausfall (same word as with cars)
aerodynamic stall = Strömungsabriss

Notwithstanding this, there is a widespread misunderstanding in the German
general public (and their media) that planes cannot fly anymore when the
engine stops.


Greetings,
Markus