‘Aviation is proof that given the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible.’ – Edward Vernon Rickenbacker, American pilot and industrialist
WHAT do you think you will do if you are on a plane that is nosediving and about to crash?
Would you just sit there, pray and brace yourself for your death or would you, like probably the rest of the passengers, be crying and screaming your head off?
A China Eastern Airlines 737-400 Boeing with 132 people on board crashed in mountains in southern China on Monday after a sudden plunge from a cruising altitude.There are no survivors on the domestic flight.
Flight MU5735 was travelling from the southwestern city of Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, to Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong when it crashed.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation. So far, only the cockpit recorder has been recovered. Family members of the 132 people on board have been notified. It was China’s first commercial air crash since 2010.
The 737-400 Boeing is one of the world’s safest passenger planes and investigators are working hard to crack the mystery of the fatal crash. China is anxious to find out the cause of the crash as soon as possible to ensure safety of aviation operations.
An aviation expert pointed out that the rapid uncontrolled descent of the seven-year -old plane before the crash was incredibly unlikely in a modern jet and required some explanations. The plane was said to be cruising at 29,000 feet around 2.17pm when it went into a sharp nose dive.
Such accidents typically involve multiple factors and in view of the scarce information available, it is too early to determine the potential causes.
However, some experts have suggested sabotage, hijack, suicide along with structure breakup of the tail among the potential causes. They say investigators have to study a lot of issues including the maintenance history and engine, flight data, voice data, communication with traffic control, structural issues as well as pilot proficiency and training.
Videos of the plummeting plane and its fiery crash are distressing to watch and serve to remind all of us, especially frequent travellers, of the perils of flying.
Will the story of the air crash stop us from ever flying again? Maybe, for a while because of the fear of flying. But with the passage of time, many of us will soon forget the horrifying incident.
The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 — January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 — May 30, 1912) were American aviation pioneers who were generally credited with inventing, building and flying the world’s first successful motor-operated airplane.
The brothers made the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered heavier-than- air aircraft with the ‘Wright Flyer’ on December 17, 1903 south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina at what is known now as Kill Devil Hills. They were also the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible.
Although flying is convenient, it is also the riskiest mode of transport. When you are in a plane and something happens to it, there is nothing much you can do. You cannot jump out of it to safety. Your life depends on the pilor and co-pilots.
Malaysia Airiines Flight 370 disappeared into thin air while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.
Until today, wreckage of the Boeing 777 has not been found.The search for the plane is the most expensive in aviation history. It focused initially on the South China Sea and Andaman Sea before analysis of the aircraft’s automated communications with an Immarsat satellite indicated a possible crash site somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean
All 227 passengers and 12 crew aboard were presumed dead. The disappearance of Flight 370 was considered the deadliest incident involving a Boeing 777 and the deadliest in Malaysia Airlines’ history before it was surpassed in both aspects by Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was shot down while flying over conflict-stricken Eastern Ukraine four months later.
Eight years on, loved ones are still waiting for answers on the missing Flight 370.
Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down on July 17, 2014 while flying over Eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed.
There was closure for the victims’ families because the bodies found at the crash site were recovered.
There are always two sides to a coin and as frequent air travellers, we have to accept the pros and cons of flying. We have to accept the perils of flying as a fact of life and perhaps pray for a safe journey before boarding a plane. We leave the rest to God. Whatever will be, will be.
