The AirAsia mishap

Palpable grief enveloped world aviation circles on December 28, 2014 as an AirAsia flight crashed with 162 passengers and crew members on board. This is one air accident too many. The tragic incident occurred barely 10 months after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 dropped off the radar over South East Asia and disappeared with 239 people on board.

The crashed AirAsia Flight was said to be flying over the Java Sea between the Islands of Belitung and Borneo when it lost contact with the radar. Pictures of bodies of the crash victims recovered from the sea and their grieving relatives splashed on television across the world dampened the joy of year-end festivities for many people, and evoked foreboding and fears for the safety of air travel.
If the truth must be told, air mishaps are coming a little too frequently, particularly in Asian countries! Is there something amiss? Global air travel regulatory authorities such as ICAO and the affected Asian countries must do a proper audit of this unsavory development.
Reports have it that in this recent case, the pilot was refused permission to fly higher and into possible safety when he reported turbulent weather ahead. Why was that the case? If the concern was for traffic congestion on the route the pilot of the ill-fated plane requested, why were the traffic controllers not able to balance such concerns with the distress call? Shouldn’t safety concerns and management make room for such emergencies?
Clearly, there is a call here on aviation experts, especially air traffic controllers, to do more to ensure safety in the air. The investigations should go deep enough to unearth all previously identified sources of air safety concerns and even anticipate future possibilities with a view to addressing them decisively to reassure air travellers. This is necessary as flying has long become the preferred way of travel globally. Hence, everything must be done and seen to be done to ensure its safety.
The investigators of this crash should do all that they can to recover the Black Box. This will help to provide information on the circumstances that led to the accident and how to guide against a recurrence. Aircraft manufacturers should also urgently find new ways of further protecting airplanes against weather challenges and crashes. The rather frequent occurrences of air accidents are not good for the reputation of the industry and its immense future potential.
When this is done, what would be left would be to guide against the human factor in these accidents. Pilots, particularly on these Asian routes, are known to fly long hours. When this happens, fatigue is bound to set in, which could result in avoidable crashes like the recent one. Another area that needs greater attention is training, retraining and certification.
While the aviation industry always strives to uphold global best practices, accidents still occur. The important thing is that every care must be taken to minimise crashes. Air accidents cause so much devastation and tragedy, which take the families of the victims so long to recover from. They are often such horrendous and monumental human and material losses that should be guarded against at all costs.
We sympathise with the families and countries of the victims as well as the Asian authorities. Let everything that is necessary be done to improve air safety to ensure that such tragedies do not recur.
SOURCE:SUN NEWS