A bad year for the aviation industry

The crash of a Russian military plane into the Black Sea was the fifth aviation disaster in December. Unfortunately, it also proved to be the deadliest in 2016 so far. In addition, the hijacking of a Libyan airliner to Malta shows this threat has not been totally eliminated, although it luckily ended without a tragedy.

The incidents once again focus the spotlight on the aviation industry. Increasing air traffic should be a sign of widening prosperity as more people have the means to fly from one place to another. However, this also entails risks, exposing the continued hazardous side of flying.

Theoretically, experts often say aircraft are the safest mode of travel because they are fitted with multiple alternatives to ward off mishaps. However, every year, hundreds of precious lives are lost due to air disasters over a wide area. For example, in the five air accidents in December, involving two Indonesian and one each Colombian, Pakistani and a Russian plane, more than 180 people were killed.

The outgoing year was not good for aviation. There were about two dozen air mishaps in which around 500 passengers were killed. The deadliest was the crash of the Russian Tu-154 military plane on Christmas day in which 92 persons were reportedly killed.

A combination of human and technical reasons cause most disasters, although, sometimes nature can also intervene to create havoc. However, that doesn't happen often. In case of disaster of an ATR plane owned by Pakistan International Airlines, an initial probe showed one of its engines malfunctioned and possibly exploded to damage one of the wings, causing the plane to plunge to the ground. All 48 people were killed, including a pop-star turned evangelist Junaid Jamshed.

An unfathomable folly could be cause of the disaster of Bolivian airliner in Colombia on November 28. The crew of the chartered passenger jet declared an emergency, reporting they had run out of fuel and also suffered electrical failure. Minutes later, the plane crashed into a mountain. Members of the Brazilian Chapecoense soccer team were among the 71 out of 77 people onboard who died.

Another major disaster was the crash of Egyptian aircraft en route from Paris to Cairo on May 19. The aircraft crashed into the Mediterranean approximately 175 miles off the Egyptian coast with 56 passengers and 10 crew members, all of whom perished. Terrorism is a suspected cause, but has yet to be confirmed.

The air accidents are deadly for different reasons. Fuel explosions often burn the bodies beyond recognition. The option to detach the fuel tank could be a way to tackle it. Similarly the option of separating the passenger cabin from the rest of the plane, like a space module, and to allow it to stay airborne or slow down its decent through artificial means could be a possibility.

Since it is highly technical issue, it should be better to leave it to the experts. However, the increasing number of fatal accidents is a source of concern for everyone. The fact that every air crash turns out to be major international news flashed around the world to head the radio and TV bulletins, reflects the fact that, today, any family can be affected by such tragedies. Imagine children seeing the images of debris of air crashes and becoming fearful to fly.

The aviation industry should work overtime to develop safety standards. Specially, no room should be left for human error. To learn that a plane in mid-air ran out of fuel is outrageous. Or that it missed the runaway while landing due to poor visibly is unacceptable.

Technology primed with artificial intelligence should be used more robustly. To start with, the take-off and landing stages of airplanes should be made as foolproof as possible to guard against human or natural intervention.

Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm

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