Recent Influx in Crashes? Coincidence or not?
Lauren Williams
Remains of AtlasJet Airline MD-83 crash in Isparta, Turkey.November 2007.AFP/Stringer/Getty Images
Montana, Hudson River, Tokyo, Indonesia, Buffalo, Amsterdam; these locations are among the many that have been hit with disastrous plane crashes recently. Didn’t someone once tell us that travel by plane is the safest way to go? Is this still the case? Are those people sitting there scratching their heads right now debating what the hell went wrong?
With the number of plane crashes mounting up in 2009 alone, I, as well as many others are strongly beginning to question the safety of this once trusted mode of transport.
The news of the Air New Zealand Airbus test flight from France in November 2008, was devestating- taking off from France, it went down without current known cause near Canet-en-Roussillon.
Then came the others, two within a month in New York alone; Buffalo and the Hudson River, Amsterdam Schipol Airport, Tokyo, London, Sydney.
Some have reported weather incidents that may have attributed, but in all seriousness we need to look at the overall picture here- Is it just a coincidence that all of these crashes have happened in such a short period of time?
Now I am no expert on the construction of planes, but as a frequent flyer, I demand to know whether or not I will be safe on my next flight.
Lets take a look at the common factors in these recent incidents.
-Tokyo; A FedEX cargo plane on arrival into Narita International Airport crashed and burst into flames. With factors such as high winds being possible contributors to the accident.
-West Java, Indonesia; a military plane doing routine training has crashed with 24 fatalities. The conditions were wet at the time.
-Schiphol International Airport, Amsterdam; a Boeing 737 was split into three sections after crashing on the runway. According to sources the aircraft was repaired twice the week before the incident.The plane appeared to have damage on the tail end, suggesting that was where it hit the runway. Dutch Safety Authority official, Fred Sanders said, “This may indicate that the plane had lost its forward momentum, that there was no motor function”. The weather conditions were slightly misty, and there were light winds at the time.
-Mount Everest, Nepal; There were two fatalities when a small passenger plane got into trouble and caught fire near Mount Everest. An official reporting on the accident from Kathmandu Airport, Mr Adhikari says, “The aircraft took off from Kathmandu when the weather was all right but later on the weather deteriorated. Perhaps the deteriorated weather contributed”.
In almost all of these cases the fuselage caught on fire, but how and why is the question.
Is the weather really to blame in all of these incidents? Or is there something more to it?
While all of these cases are still under investigation, many officials are claiming that birds could have caused the accidents. Are we just plucking at straws here? Or could this really all be down to some misguided geese taking a wrong turn?
In 2007, A China Airlines Boeing 737-800 jet encountered problems when its left engine caught fire just after arrival in Okinawa on route from Taipei. At the time, Officials suspected that the fuel may have been leaking, causing the engine to catch fire. Witnesses heard the explosion, and describe the plane as ‘sagging on the side’ but the tail was still ‘intact’. China Airlines reported that the aircraft had recently undergone maintenance.
However, this is not the first time China Airlines has come under scrutiny; in the past 15 years they have had several fatal incidents including several in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. There still has been no official report released on the Okinawa incident.
There have been many other incidents that have also gone almost unnoticed and unreported in the mainstream media. Leading to the question- Are they trying to hide something?
-Last month, an Emirates EK 407 flight departing from Melbourne, encountered a near fatal incident that went unreported to the media. After some time it was reported that this was the most serious accident to have happened in Australian aviation history.
-A Qantas plane filled with smoke was forced to land at Brisbane Airport after the Pilot declared an emergency to the crew and Air Traffic Control
-As passengers were disembarking from a Pacific Blue plane at Wellington airport, the plane was seen to be blowing away from the airbridge. It was 3 months before any details about this were released to the public.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/570649
http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/570649www.fearlessflight.com reports that the chances of dying in a plane crash are still 1 in 11 million, although the media would like you to think otherwise. But of course this website is trying to cure the fear of flying, so I suspect they’re hardly going to tell you otherwise.
Coppola, M discusses the recent news of plane crashes in his blog ‘Mark Coppola’s Take on the News: of Plane Crashes and Octoplets’, He states that they are perfectly natural occurrences, and that people seem to be more affected when there is news of a plane crash, to when there is news of a murder or traffic accident. He claims that because there is a lot of pain felt by so many people in one incident, we are more likely to concentrate on this.
There are many unanswered questions, as most of these crashes are still unresolved, I can only report on the current facts. We can only hope that these ARE just coincidences, and that there isn’t some bigger conspiracy. Faulty parts? Geese? Perhaps these weather changes are all a part of global warming catching up with us? We can only wait for the official reports. In the mean time I’m sure the airlines would like us to keep booking holidays… hypocritical anyone?
Wow, I loved your presentation.I like the way you introduced the main point and let the reader know the direction you were taking.
ReplyDeleteI am a bit of a plane geek myself so i take great interest in your blog.I found your piece very easy to read ,it flowed really well.
I cracked up at the point about the geese and the mention of plucking at straws.
I like the way you stick to your point about the safety of aircraft today .I think it may really get people thinking or perhaps even worrying about their next flight which to me shows your blog on flying is hitting the nail on the head and doing exactly what a blog should.
I liked the links you provided as they were very informative .It is good to see you included a link that brings to attention the point that we as human biengs do get things a little out of context when they are reported in the media.I am referring to the link which draws our attention to the fact that every day hundreds of people die in car crashes around the world but we tend to focus on the plane crashes because alot of people perish all at one moment.
I suppose when your time is up its up, wether picking an airline with a newer fleet of aircraft, a good safety record or even if you choose to sit near the tail section of the aircraft which is stronger.
All in all i think you picked a great topic which i am sure everyone can relate to.
Nice page color, I like it, will put on my commentary later:-)
ReplyDeleteHey Lauren
ReplyDeleteNot surprising the media concentrates on the air crashes, they are more deadly and make for more dramatic footage. Thus, they help capture audiences - just as the fire in Australia took precedence over the flood further north – just as the 30,000 Americans who die annually from flu are ignored in preference for stories on swine flu. The companies will continue to be cagey so they don’t have to pay reparation. As hard-hearted as it sounds, the companies are run to make a profit.
Thank you for the comments guys! Much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI intend to write a response in a couple of days time.
Lauren
Great blog there Lauren. Me too being a constant flier, I never really thought about flying somewhere and then suddenly blowing up or anything (plane rides are just new movies and free booze). But as for why there are more and more plane crashes happening, I'd have to say that the two main reasons that pop into my mind is that..
ReplyDelete1) most planes that are around today, would probably be hitting the 20 years old mark, even after the airlines use their money to cover the cracks and put pretty seats in, and
2) the amount of flights going in and out of any country has increased, and especially when it comes from a country like china, where the population is huge, its only natural that more crashes would occur from countries which host more flights. But still, the quality of most planes now a days are terrible, and with all these new 'budget airlines' opening up with cheap tickets.. well, lets just say that the cash received goes into the bosses pocket, not into the planes :) but that's just my 2 cents.
(p.s I'd never fly budget or any china airline after reading this, for sure!)
Sounds like you've been doing your homework (^_^)
ReplyDeleteThe only reason planes are consindered safer is because compared to the amount of car an other land transport acceidents in the world their numbers are very few theoretically making them "safer". The fact of the matter is that not only do you have to take into count nature, but also human error and pure laziness during maintince. Also as mufzter said some countries have higer traffic rates giving meaning they have a higer percentage of crashes compared to a place like NewZealand. And it is true that media focuses on HUGE death incedents as it attracts more attention. But im not going to let this stop me from flying. Why? Because cars are just as dangerous and far too prone to acceidents but that still doesn't stop me from driving and or riding in them.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason planes are consindered safer is because compared to the amount of car an other land transport acceidents in the world their numbers are very few theoretically making them "safer".…………….EXACTLY!!
ReplyDeleteSince I wrote this blog there has been even more aviation incidents. In particular two notable crashes in the same week.. and the survival rates were both VERY different. In the first one, the pilot used his intuition when he came into trouble, and landed safely on a street, and pulled into a car park.
The other, a pilot and his co-pilot were having a discussion about their experience flying, which turned out to be not very much, and when they came into trouble, they basically had no idea how to react. Instead of following strict aviation rules, they did the exact opposite... As a result, there were no survivors.
I will be reviewing my blog this weekend, and will add in some more links, especially to do with these more recent incidents. Maybe it is all just human error...?
Dear Lauren,
ReplyDeleteSorry for my more reply late, as a matter of fact, I think the number of plane crash rate is almost the same every year. Along with the development of transportation and globalization, people just contact each other more and more and share the common information due to advanced statistics technology. In fact, we just broad our horizon because of the information and news.