Questions over aircraft safety
FOLLOWING the disappearance of the AirAsia flight to Singapore on Sunday, all our hopes are pinned on the ocean and land areas being scoured for any sign of the aircraft and its passengers -- areas much smaller compared with the year's earlier tragedy of the lost Malaysian Airways plane.
AirAsia flight QZ8501 with 162 people, departing from Surabaya, lost contact following the last communication between its pilot and air traffic control two and a half hours after taking off at 5:36 a.m. Air traffic was reportedly heavy as the pilot, formerly with the Air Force, asked air traffic control for permission to turn left and climb higher to avoid thick clouds. After permission was granted, but only to turn left, the details become unclear, other than that contact with the aircraft was then lost.
Pending investigations, all efforts are now focused on locating the Airbus and its passengers. On the part of authorities and AirAsia's management, equal focus must be on helping distressed families and keeping communication channels open amid agonizing uncertainty.
The incident involving PT Air Asia Indonesia, part of the Malaysian AirAsia group, adds to the long list of Indonesia's aviation accidents. We can blame the weather, aircraft manufacturers or human error within airline management, the crew or air traffic control. But regardless of the investigation findings, Indonesia needs to work hard on its safety record.
It was only in 2009 that Garuda Indonesia was allowed to fly to Europe after being banned in 2007, along with three other domestic airlines, from the continent's airspace, following several accidents. The lifting of the ban five years ago cannot make us complacent. We have unresolved factors that heighten the risk of flying beyond a pilot's skills — such as inadequate runways, crowded airports and airspace, flight delays and tight competition in the industry, amid high operation and maintenance costs.
In 2011, the visiting president of the International Civil Aviation Organization, Roberto K. Gonzales, told the media here that Indonesian airlines' compliance with international safety standards had reached 80 percent, compared with 50 percent in 2007.
In the face of no option but to book an airline seat, any traveler should be able to depart in the expectation of flying and landing safely, without having to consider the implications of that remaining 20-percent shortfall. International awards mean a lot to airlines, as is clear from their commercials; but they seem to forget that passengers are more interested in their own safety than in admiring those awards.
As efforts continue to locate the AirAsia aircraft, with the help of neighboring countries, travelers everywhere expect that airlines and national authorities do everything they can to ensure their safety. Meanwhile, our prayers are with the families.
© The Jakarta Post. Reprinted in special arrangement with Asia News Network
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