Is flying dangerous?
Man has been attracted to flying ever since he first became aware of it. He watched the birds soar with envy and dreamed of conquering the blue sky himself. Long technical progress has led to the fact that today we can soar almost without limits. It was only a hundred years ago that the Wright brothers cabled flying contraption first took off, and how far we have come since then!
written by: Kosza
Aviation has boosted the world’s economy by reducing the time spent travelling, so that a holiday of thousands of kilometres can be fit into a short holiday. It’s been a bumpy road to today’s safe air travel, when statistics show that it is the safest form of transport. Many lives have been lost trying to fly in the heyday of aviation, or in the introduction of many innovations. There have been cases where excessive luxury led to a plane full of passengers crashing into the sea. Nowadays, when disasters do occur, it is largely due to human negligence and carelessness rather than technology. Of course, it was not always like that.
We would like to describe a few accidents that, although terrible, the lessons learned from them have led to the fact that the chances of losing a tooth as a result of an aircraft accident are now almost minimal.
1977 Tenerife
Till nowadays, the plane crash with the most fatalities have occurred at Tenerife airport. Interestingly, it was not in the air but on the ground that two Boeing 747 giants collided, killing 588 people. The main problem was that the two jumbos were received at an airport that is not normally equipped to receive such huge aircraft.
The Dutch KLM plane, after a long nerve-wracking wait, was given permission to take its place on the runway and wait for clearance to take off. As the airport did not have adequate ways for such large aircraft, it had to take its position by taxiing to the end of the runway and then turning around to wait. Meanwhile, PANAM’s plane also started taxiing directly opposite the waiting KLM giant and was due to taxi down the third exit. KLM would then have been cleared to take off. Due to language and radio problems, and the arrogant behaviour of the Dutch plane, the take-off was initiated before the PANAM had left the runway. After that, disaster was inevitable and although the PANAM tried to leave the runway when it detected the danger, it was only one turn away and was sideswiped by the other plane. The advantage of the turn was that some of the PANAM crew survived, although they suffered lifelong physical or psychological damage. The lessons learned from this incident have made communication much more accurate. The captains of the planes no longer have unlimited discretion, they can be overruled by the crew if they act against regulations, as the captain of the KLM plane did.
1990 New York
The Colombian airline Avinca’s plane crashed into the ground about 2 km from the runway during landing. The cause of the accident was so trivial it is almost hard to believe. They were out of fuel! In a car, there is no serious harm in such a situation, at most you get annoyed, but in an aircraft, especially in the air, death is almost certain. The problem was that the first attempt to land had failed because of the fog, so they had to take off again and repeat the procedure after another lap. The controllers sent them to a holding orbit so as not to hold up the landing that was already in progress, except that the captain of the plane had not indicated that they didn’t really have enough fuel. By the time he realised and indicated the problem, it was too late, and the landing aircraft had not reached the runway. From now on, it is mandatory for all flights to have enough spare kerosene to reach another nearby airport in case of bad weather or any other problem.
1990 Southampton
Fortunately, this accident did not result in any human casualties, but it did bring a very important problem to the attention of professionals. What happened was that the captain’s side windscreen of the British Airway plane ripped off at high altitude, and the pressure differential pulled him out of the plane. The seatbelt prevented him from taking off in free flight and surviving the almost unsurvivable. Thanks to the presence of mind and skill of the co-pilot, the damaged plane was safely flown with the captain at the front. The cause of the accident was that the mechanics had used an out-of-type part, although it looked good. This is no longer possible today, there is no tinkering in aviation. Only the correct part should be fitted, and a proper check should follow any repair.
We hope that the presentation of these few accidents has not discouraged you from flying.
No responsibility is taken for anything said in this article. This article does not necessarily reflect our views! As we love thought-provoking, interesting writing, we welcome yours or if you would like to share your experiences, but writing is not your forte, let us know and we will even arrange an interview.
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Did you know?
Pilots and co-pilots typically eat different meals. Although there is no official rule, pilots and co-pilots generally eat completely separate meals that are prepared differently. This is to avoid the risk of food poisoning or other sicknesses that may affect the pilot’s or co-pilot’s ability to fly the plane properly.
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Original article: Veszélyes a repülés? Translated by: BOGI – CONTINENT SURFER
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