In light of recent airline tragedies, Was Spainair Flight 5022 Just A Tragic Accident? (Flying in general)

Member Name: karimkha

Product:	Flying in general
Date:	25/09/08 (478 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Natural catastrophes need prevention; human ignorance and greed need to be stopped

Disadvantages: In both cases it is impossible ! !

For many reasons . . . Airline tragedies are very common and frequent these days, in the past years hearing about an airplane crash was very horrific and traumatic but now it's happening all the time! People wake up every day expecting to hear about these accidents in the day's news!
So, In light of recent airline tragedies, and a growing number of budget flights, is safety being compromised?

Well...in the first instance the answer is YES! Before the recent accidents and crashes and what we have seen and heard in recent news, I used to simply blame the airlines. BUT...looking at the evidence and after spending hours looking in the net and reading researches about this subject, I can see that there is a lot more to say about it: it's a lot more complicated than I imagined.

I realised how shallow my knowledge about airplane accidents was.
I have recently worked as a travel agent and as l am a person who has travelled a lot since a very young age . . . and a daughter of parents who were involved in airline and travel (an ex-pilot and an air hostess) . . . I can say that travelling and safety has changed a lot recently compared to previous years. Some people suppose that airplanes crashes are new phenomena; as a matter of fact, air crashes have been here before. Maybe it seemed more tragic than these days; maybe we heard the news later.

The problem now is the huge and immediate media coverage . . . and with the existence of the internet . . . and with mobile phones delivering services of instant news . . . there is no way any news can be hidden, although some of the news stories are not 100% accurate. The airplane accidents are not only civil; also we must not forget military accidents (both airplanes and helicopters): surely we are hearing about these nearly every day in Iraq or Afghanistan!
As I'm talking about airline safety and tragedies . . . it doesn't only mean crashes; there are also security issues, and civilian planes being hijacked by terrorists or those (as some call them) mentally unstable; the victims are the innocent people (passengers) who had been looking forward to a nice holiday under the sun, not being taken as hostages!

My dad told me that when he worked in the '70s - '90s that a lot of air tragedies and crashes had happened during this period; but in his point of view, he thought that in the '90s and into the new millennium, these accidents were more aggressive and much more traumatic.

Some Main Factors . . .
There are many factors that control what makes a plane safe or unsafe to fly and carry passengers . . . here are the most common factors:

How old the plane is one of the most important factors . . . most airlines update their planes every three to five years depending on the model and the size of the plane.
How many flights and how many travelling hours has the plane done?. . . there is a life expectancy for planes (like humans) - the more you use it the shorter its lifespan! Again there is a limitation to the hours; after a certain number of hours flown, it is stopped from flying (even if it was relatively new).
Maintenance and operational procedures. Maintenance should be done before and after a flight to ensure complete safety; the engines and the wings should be checked regularly.
Number of passengers and luggage weight. So many fatal accidents happened and the main reason was an overload of passengers and personal luggage. Who is to blame at the end? The airline company? Or the passengers, for insisting and over-packing?
Specific routes flown and the weather. There are some routes which are temporarily unsafe like war zones or due to bad weather (which can be dangerous: lightning . . . this could be very serious like what happened to Boeing 787; snow can also have bad effects, and especially frost. Some routes are naturally areas which can't be flown over - like the infamous Bermuda Triangle, which is also known as THE DEVIL TRIANGLE! Many airplanes and ships disappeared mysteriously; some of them refer the accident to huge magnetic field(s) they suppose attracts the planes . . . who knows!
A very vital point is how trained is the pilot or the captain and his helper as well. A well trained captain can survive when hit by a storm, bad rainy weather or if a technical fault or mechanical failure occurs; if one of the engines stopped working or for any other reason. A qualified trained pilot is essential.


Terrorism
Scary fact but true . . . I tried to avoid talking about it but I have to . . .
Terrorism is the new phenomena of the millennium; it's nearly everywhere. I would say that it's been the most covered topic by the media, and seems to be the main issue highlighted by presidents of the world. I can recall the horrific accident on September 11th, 2001 - famously known as 9/11. . . on that unusual morning, four passenger jet airliners were hijacked by nineteen terrorists who intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on the plane (including the hijackers) and of course most of the workers and the residents of the two towers. I can remember seeing the buildings collapsed and completely levelled with the ground while a third plane was crashed into the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Some of its passengers and flight crew had attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had diverted toward Washington, D.C. There are no known survivors from any of the flights! Thousands were killed - nearly 2974, plus the hijackers. I felt really sorry for the innocent passengers who died because of politics!

Now . . . back to the main subject.....

Who is to blame when a plane accident happens?
This is a tough question . . . in my opinion; we can't blame one party while leaving others blameless.


The Airline?

The Airline Company is the first one to question. Were they providing the suitable plane, age-wise and also maintenance-wise? Some very traumatic accidents have happened because of negligence of a proper and full mechanical check up before and after every flight. Also, were they employing cheaper, under qualified staff as well?
Another area of blame is airline counters: there should be a limitation and strict orders when uploading personal luggage - according to the British Airways rules it shouldn't exceed 20 kg while some airlines can pass a luggage up to 35kg!


The Pilot?

There are some warning signs any qualified pilot should not ignore.These warning signs are if they notice any of these things:

Auto pilot disconnect
Excessive rate of descent
Incorrect takeoff configuration
Wind-shear warning
Exited selected altitude
Selected altitude reached
Below glide slope
Altitude loss after takeoff or go-around
Excessive rate of descent or sink
Bank angle exceeds 35 degrees
Excessive terrain closure rate
High speed at low altitude
High speed / low altitude gear up

Of course these warning signs are only visible to the captain and he and his assistants are the only ones who are able to understand those signs and act fast.
Why Am I Writing About This Subject?
There are two reasons actually . . . firstly . . . to talk about my experience as a passenger so maybe it can cure my fears (I admit)
. . . secondly . . . to talk about the recent horrific plane accident in Spain, in which we sadly lost THREE people from our town.

My Experience
I used to travel with my parents since a very young age but when I grew older and with recent air crashes I developed a sort of anti-flying feeling . . . I don't have a phobia or anything; I just don't feel comfortable or safe any more, although I work in the travel industry! The worst moment is during takeoff and landing . . . and according to research those are the most crucial and critical times.

The only time I really felt "I'm not safe" was when the plane was hit by a stormy cloud . . . over Denmark, maybe, we entered that cloud . . . I saw that pitch black, the lights completely went off, and I swear that the plane was upside down and we all fell over each other. I thought, "this is it," and tried to calm down frightened people, especially children. In my deepest heart I was frighten to death, but I had my faith and beliefs and I said to myself, "it's all written in my destiny!" Anyway, because the pilot was very well trained and he kept his cool and didn't lose his temper, he made it through, and we survived apart from an old man who had a heart attack! It could be worse . . . it could have been hit by lighting and the plane burnt!
This experience scared me off, but I didn't stop travelling . . . but I questioned myself, "what if the captain wasn't good enough or brave enough? What if the plane wasn't well maintained or very old? I wouldn't be here writing reviews in ciao! LOL . . ."


The Recent Plane Accident (Madrid-Spain)-Flight No 5022

The incident was a shock for the world in general and for Spain in particular. No one thought that this sort of accident could happen these days; not with all that technology. Spainair is known for regular checkups and for very well trained staff. It was the first fatal accident for Spainair, the worst aviation accident for this year, and Spain's worst in more than quarter of the century. The while nation was completely shocked
I was at work when I first heard about it and I couldn't believe it until I knew nearly everything about the accident.

Some basic information about the flight.
The date was 20th August 2008 at 14:45 local time. The location: Madrid, Spain. The flight was Spainair Flight 5022, travelling its normal route from Madrid to Las Palmas, Canary Islands - aboard were: 162 passengers; 10 crew members.

Survivors: 17 passengers and 1 crew!
What happened (the accident)? This may sound familiar as we have heard about airplanes having an accident before takeoff. The airliner crashed while attempting to takeoff. The plane was able to get slightly airborne before crashing into a ravine at the end of the runway. The captain tried to stop the plane but for some reason the plane stopped responding and the tragic accident occurred!

More details about the accident: as I mentioned before, the accident happened in a few seconds while the plane was still at takeoff. To be more specific about the accident . . . the engines neither exploded nor caught fire while the plane took off. . . it wasn't a fire accident . . .so what then happened?
According to the video provided by the airport security, the aircraft rolled to the right, it was unable to maintain adequate airspeed to prevent altitude loss, and so it crashed in the vicinity of the runway, tragically breaking into at least two parts!!

A very important quote from Spainair . . .
"the pilot had previously attempted and aborted a departure due to a sensor reporting excessive temperature in an air intake, and that the temperature sensor was deactivated on the ground (reportedly an established procedure since that sensor is redundant), delaying departure by over an hour. Another takeoff was attempted, during which the fatal accident occurred".

Looking at this quote . . . the pilot had reported excessive temperature and HE DELAYED THE FLIGHT FOR OVER AN HOUR . . . so why did they attempt another try? If they had stopped this flight for this day and had taken the plane for a mechanical check up instead . . . you could have saved the life of 145 passengers and 9 crew members! But they continued with the flight . . . so it was an air temperature problem? If the pilot and the airline had insisted to take the plane for a mechanical check-up before its catastrophic takeoff attempt; none of this would have happened; but in this case safety had been compromised!!



The question remains . . . "Is safety being compromised?"

Unfortunately . . . in some cases . . . YES . . . some cheap airlines cut down on their budget and employ some unqualified stuff just to save money. Some use bad quality fuel and others have used very old and weary planes! And on the Spainair, 'money issues' was the main reason. Even as some airlines have refused to delay or even to have stopped the whole flight to save time and money! At the end of the day, though, the reputation of the airline and the passengers' lives are in danger!
A lot of accidents happen when the captain ignores a visible warning sign and continues with the flight; if he reacted faster, many accidents would also be prevented in the first place.

Since the beginning of September until the 14th, 3 fatal accidents have occurred: flight 821in Russia; a flight helicopter in Dubai and one other fatal accident in the Congo . . . And funnily enough while writing this review, a small aircraft in Iraq crashed and five American soldiers were dead (18th-Sep). So the accidents will continue and the deaths from air crashes will remain until the natural catastrophes are stopped, and until human ignorance and greed are stopped . . . and in both cases it is impossible!!

Thanks for reading


© Karimkha . . . . . September 2008
This review was posted on ciao as well under the same username.

Summary: airplane crash phenomena!!