After Jet Crashes, Aviation
Industry 'Struggling' to Re-Train Pilots
As investigators hunt for what caused an AirAsia jet
to crash in an equatorial storm on Dec. 28, the aviation industry is still
struggling to apply the lessons of accidents in similar weather over the past
decade.
It is too early to say whether the Airbus A320 crashed into the
Java Sea due to pilot error, mechanical problems, freak weather or - as most
often happens in aviation disasters - a combination of factors.
But its
apparently uncontrolled plunge, coming after a series of other fatal crashes
blamed at least in part on loss of control, has refocused attention on whether
pilot training programs need to improve.
Critics say pilots don't get
enough training on how to react when an airliner stalls or loses lift, and that
changes in guidance about best practices have been slow.
"The lessons
have not been learned to this day," said David Learmount, one of the aviation
industry's leading safety commentators. "Everyone knows what the problem is, but
nobody is doing anything about it."
Though rare, loss of pilot control
ranks as the single biggest cause of air travel deaths. Two crashes in
particular forced the issue - the 2009 losses of an Air France flight from Rio
de Janeiro to Paris, and a Colgan Air turboprop near Buffalo, New
York.
In both, confused pilots ignored or countermanded warnings of an
impending stall, a condition where a plane loses lift because the air flow over
its wings is too slow.
The Air France jet took a four-minute, 38,000 feet
plunge into the ocean. Despite repeated stall alarms, the control stick was
fatally yanked backwards.
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