Civilian airliner crashes have gotten happily rare in recent years. Any accident, particularly with significant fatalities, is viewed as a sad anomaly these days, especially in the developed world. Crashes involving major airlines and modern jetliners are tragic outliers now.
What a difference in safety a few decades makes. Four decades ago exactly, August 1985, was the deadliest month in the history of civil passenger air travel. A staggering 720 passengers and crew lost their lives in accidents that terrible month, most of them in the crash of Delta Flight 191 (137 dead with 26 survivors) and the complete loss of Japan Air Lines Flight 123 (520 dead), the deadliest single-aircraft crash in history.
Since then, thanks to advances in aircrew training and aviation technology, plus improved understanding of extreme weather, major crashes are shocking now, because they are so rare. This January’s loss of American Airlines Flight 5342 over the Potomac River, on approach to Reagan National Airport, with all 64 aboard, following a collision with an off-course Army helicopter on a training flight, was the first significant civilian airliner crash in the United States in 16 years.
Regardless, it’s been standard worldwide since the jetliner revolution of the 1950s, which made air travel accessible to the masses, that any accident, particularly involving loss of life, is subject to a rigorous investigation of what went wrong and why, in the hope of preventing future crashes. It’s easy to be cynical about this process, and critics have frequently noted that the Federal Aviation Administration only takes action after lives are lost in a crash, what’s derided as a “tombstone mentality.” However, it’s plain to see that the National Transportation Safety Board, established in 1967 as an independent agency, has made a dramatic difference in American airline safety. Moreover, as NTSB-like investigative methods have spread internationally over the decades, the safety of global air travel has improved markedly.
But what if such procedures aren’t followed? What if, after a crash, all parties involved simply pretend that there was no crash, preferring to bury the loss – and its victims?
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Author: John Schindler
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