亞洲航空安全未因馬航飛機失聯受質疑
As the search continued late Saturday for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner, experts pointed at how many Asian carriers have succeeded in the last decade to overhaul their patchy safety records, helping make flying in the region among the world's safest.
馬來西亞航空公司(Malaysian Airlines)失聯客機的搜尋工作目前仍在進行當中。而與此同時專家指出，過去十年來亞洲諸多航空公司的安全記錄都實現了大幅提升，亞洲航空業的安全性已經進入全球排名的前列。Authorities across Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam scrambled to locate the Boeing 777-200 jet with 239 people aboard that had lost contact with air-traffic controllers two hours into a routine flight to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.
週六早間，一架從吉隆坡飛往北京的波音(Boeing) 777-200型客機在起飛兩小時後與地面空管人員失去聯絡，這架飛機上搭載了239名乘客。目前馬來西亞、新加坡和越南當局正加緊搜尋這架客機的下落。Though the fate of the aircraft remains unclear, aviation experts are pointing to the Malaysian flag carrier's strong safety record that stands out among some of its rivals in Southeast Asia.
儘管飛機的命運仍是一個未知數，但航空專家指出，這家馬來西亞國家航空公司在東南亞的航空產業內擁有着出色的安全記錄。
The airline, which is 69.4% owned by Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the Malaysian sovereign-wealth fund, hadn't suffered a fatal aircraft accident since 1995, when one of its small turboprop planes crashed after an aborted landing attempt, killing 34 people, according to data from the Aviation Safety Network, an industry database.
馬來西亞航空69.4%的股權由馬來西亞國庫控股公司(Khazanah Nasional Bhd.)持有。根據航空安全網絡(Aviation Safety Network)的數據，馬來西亞航空上一次發生導致人員喪失的事故是在1995年，當年該公司的一架小型渦輪螺旋槳飛機在着陸嘗試失敗後失事，並致34人遇難。Meanwhile, serious accidents were more frequent involving other airlines from many of the region's developing countries between the 1980s to early 2000s. This came as Asia's fledgling commercial aviation industry began to take off, significantly hurting the reputation of operators in nations such as China, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia.
與之相比，自上世紀80年代至21世紀初期間，隨着亞洲商用航空產業的起步，該地區諸多發展中國家的航空公司發生了多起重大事故，使得中國大陸、臺灣、韓國和印度尼西亞等地航空公司的聲譽嚴重受損。Among the deadliest air crashes in Asia, an Airbus A300 plane of Garuda Indonesia crashed in September 1997, killing 234 people. Two months later, a 10-month old Boeing 737-300 operated by SilkAir, the regional unit of Singapore Airlines, crashed near Palembang, also in Indonesia, killing all 104 onboard.
1997年9月，印尼航空(Garuda Indonesia)的一家空中客車(Airbus) A300型客機發生空難，導致234人遇難。兩個月後，新加坡航空旗下勝安航空(SilkAir)一架投入使用僅10個月的波音737-300型客機在印度尼西亞巨港附近墜毀，機上104人全部遇難。But safety has improved considerably in Asia over the last decade, experts say, with airlines and national governments investing billions of dollars to boost crew training and flight infrastructure. China has completely turned itself around since the 1990s to be among the safest aviation regions in the world, they say.
但專家表示，過去10年來亞洲的航空公司和各國政府在加強員工培訓和航空基礎設施建設方面投入來數十億美元，亞洲航空業的安全性已有相當大的改善。專家還稱，自上世紀90年代以來，中國已徹底轉變爲全世界最安全的航空地區之一。'The safety performance of Asian airlines is in line with the overall industry performance,' said Andrew Herdman, the director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, a Kuala Lumpur-based industry organization.
總部位於吉隆坡的航空業組織――亞太航空公司協會(Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, 簡稱AAPA)總幹事赫德曼(Andrew Herdman)表示，亞洲航空公司的安全水準已經達到了全球航空業的整體水平。Over last decade, the industry hull loss rate, or planes getting completely damaged, has improved to one loss in three million flights from one in a million, Mr. Herdman said.
赫德曼稱，過去10年來中，亞洲航空業的機身損毀率已從每一百萬架次中損毀一架，降至了每三百萬架次中損毀一架。Still, safety remains a concern among some smaller Asian markets, particularly in some developing Southeast Asian nations that involve smaller commuter aircraft. In February, a Nepal Airlines Canadian-made Twin Otter turboprop crashed, killing all 18 onboard, in Nepal's seventh fatal commercial aircraft crash since 2008, killing a total of 125 people.
然而在一些亞洲小國家的市場上（尤其是部分東南亞發展中國家的小型支線客機市場），安全問題仍然令人擔憂。今年2月份，尼泊爾航空公司(Nepal Airlines)一架加拿大產的海獺式雙渦輪螺旋槳飛機墜毀，機上18人全部遇難，這是2008年以來該國第七起造成人員喪生的商用客機墜毀事故，這七起事故共造成125人遇難。Elsewhere in Asia, India's airline safety ranking was downgraded by the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority earlier this year following a review of the South Asian nation's regulatory oversight. As well, many Indonesia airlines continue to be on the European Union watch list for safety. In a sign of the improved safety standards, however, flag carrier Garuda Indonesia was among the few of the nation's airlines removed from the list in 2009.
亞洲其他地區方面，今年早些時候美國聯邦航空管理局(U.S. Federal Aviation Authority, 簡稱FAA)在評估印度的監管監督後，下調了這個南亞國家的航空安全等級。同時，印尼多家航空公司仍在歐盟的安全觀察名單上。不過，安全標準有所提高的一個跡象是，2009年旗艦航空公司嘉魯達印尼航空(Garuda Indonesia)被移出安全觀察名單，是爲數不多被剔除出該名單的印尼航空公司之一。'Every day approximately six million people board airplanes and arrive safely at their destinations.... The overall safety record of commercial airplanes is excellent and has been steadily improving over time,' according to Boeing Co., the Chicago-based manufacturer of the missing 777-200. The aircraft was delivered to Malaysia Airlines in May 2002.
此次失蹤的波音777-200飛機產自波音公司(Boeing Co.)。總部位於芝加哥的波音稱，每天約有600萬人登上飛機並安全抵達目的地，商用飛機的總體安全記錄是相當不錯的，而且隨着時間的推移一直在穩步提高。這架飛機於2002年5月份被交付給馬來西亞航空。Since its introduction in 1995, the Boeing 777 has quickly become the workhorse of Asia's full-service carriers, shuttling thousands of passengers a day on regional and long-haul flights to Europe and North America. Asian airlines credit the twin-engine jet as a more fuel-efficient and reliable aircraft to operate than the bigger aircraft it is replacing, the Boeing 747.
自1995年問世後，波音777迅速成爲亞洲全方位服務航空公司的主力機型，執飛從亞洲到歐美的區域和遠程航班，每天穿梭往返，運送數千名乘客。亞洲的航空公司認爲，相比機體較大的波音747，雙引擎的波音777更省油、更可靠，所以它們用波音777取代了波音747。Boeing data show fatal accidents now occur less than once every two million flights, a huge improvement over once in 200,000 flights in the 1950s and 1960s.
波音的數據顯示，目前遭遇空難事故的機率還不到200萬分之一，已經遠遠低於上世紀50至60年代時的20萬分之一。As for the missing Malaysian jet, Vietnam's navy said it possibly crashed 153 nautical miles off the Vietnam coast. The Vietnam navy couldn't confirm the possible crash site, while Malaysia Airlines and the nation's government said the plane hadn't yet been found.
至於失蹤的馬航波音飛機，越南海軍稱，它有可能墜入了距離越南海岸約153海里的海中。越南海軍無法確認可能失事的地點，馬來西亞航空和馬來西亞政府則表示，飛機尚未找到。'There are only two possibilities in my mind--some undefined mechanical problem or terrorism--that would explain how the pilot would be caught unaware and can't react, that controllers heard nothing,' said Harshvardhan, an aviation analyst in New Delhi.
印度新德里的航空分析師Harshvardhan稱，他認爲只有兩種可能：一，不明確的機械故障；二，恐怖主義襲擊――這就可以解釋爲何飛行員完全沒有意識到發生問題，也沒有作出反應，而空中交通指揮員也沒有聽到任何報告。If there was some trouble, the plane would have sent a warning or tried to make an emergency landing, said Mr. Harshvardhan, who goes by only one name.
Harshvardhan說，如果出現故障，飛機會發出警告，或嘗試緊急着陸。這架飛機當時載有足夠的燃料，可以額外飛行兩個小時。分析師們稱，逝去的每一分鐘都指向了空難。The aircraft was carrying enough fuel to keep it in the air for two extra hours and analysts said every passing minute pointed to a mishap. 'Every hour that goes by without a sign of life from the aircraft will further point to a catastrophic event,' said Jonathan Galaviz, a partner with Global Market Advisors, an aviation and leisure consulting firm. 'The route that flight takes has difficult terrain and the weather conditions could be harsh.'
航空和休閒諮詢公司Global Market Advisors的合夥人格拉維茲(Jonathan Galaviz)說，時間一小時一小時地過去，還沒有看到生命的跡象，這加大了災難性事故的可能性。此次航班飛行的航線地形險惡，天氣條件可能也比較惡劣。In the next two decades, the Asia Pacific region will account for almost half of the growth in air traffic, according Boeing's estimates. To accommodate this growth, the region will need 12,820 new aircraft, worth around $1.9 trillion, Boeing said last month.
波音估計，未來20年，亞太地區的客流增長將佔到全球航空客流量增長的近一半。波音上個月稱，爲了順應這一增長，亞太地區將需要12,820架新飛機，總價值約1.9萬億美元。
