Better safe than sorry on flights
The airline industry and Boeing need to find solutions in a hurry on the crisis gripping the sector following the crash of a second Boeing 737 Max 8 in less than six months. Confidence among the flying public is dipping with no real answers two days after the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 on board. The Lion Air crash over the Java Sea claimed 189 lives. Since the October 19, 2018, crash and now, no one has been able to put a finger on what exactly went wrong on board the two aircraft of the same make. Black boxes recovered from the ill-fated Lion Air plane suggested the pilots struggled to regain control of the aircraft that slammed into the water. Initial investigations suggested maintenance issues at the carrier, but this could not be confirmed. Were the pilots unaware of any software updates? Again, speculation. Did they get adequate training in the company’s rush to get the planes off the ground? That is for investigators to conclude. The industry is clearly facing a crisis of confidence following these two crashes which could hit the already thinning profit margins of global airlines.
There are 350 737 Max
8 aircraft in operation across the world. But that was until today. Countries are banning Max 8 from flying in out of their airspace. The numbers are rising, but the US Federal
Aviation Authority says the
Max 8 is airworthy, while
US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said the
FAA would “take immediate and appropriate action” if there was any manufacturing defect. Ethiopian Airlines said the plane it lost underwent thorough checks on February 4 and the pilot was among the best they had. UAE civil aviation authorities, meanwhile, are closely following the probe and providing assistance to investigating authorities. Perhaps the best way to calm passenger fears. As for the families of victims, they will have to live through both the tragedy and suspense of what went wrong on those flights that never returned. It shouldn’t take fatal accidents like these to fix problems, if any, on new generation planes. Passengers deserve better that a spate of speculation. They have a right to know that they are in safe hands.
The industry is facing a crisis of confidence following these two crashes, which could hit the already thinning profit margins of global airlines.