Juventude.life!Airplane Accidents: Causes and Prevention Methods"Your Life! Your Way!"

Hello everyone! In today’s world, technology has developed, and there are many transportation methods. One of them is planes, which are a very old form of transportation. We have been using planes for transportation for about 120 years! They are strong and technologically advanced vehicles. Planes are safer than other transportation methods because they are designed very carefully, and the maintenance of aircraft is done regularly. You can see airplanes as flying metal boxes because that’s what they are! But sometimes they also have some problems. These may be human errors, technical failures, or other issues such as communication problems. Today, I will talk about airplane accidents that may seem simple but result in serious consequences. First, let me explain a bit about the airplane accidents I have chosen to discuss with you. I chose three plane crashes for you. These accidents occurred due to simple problems but ended with sad and significant results.

Alright then, let’s start with the plane crashes I have selected for you.

1-) Air France Flight 447

First of all, I have chosen Air France Flight 447. In this accident, 228 people lost their lives. We will discuss the reasons behind this.

The plane was flying from Brazil to Paris on June 1, 2009. It took off, and the flight continued without any problems. After a while, the plane reported its status to the last air traffic controller, from which it took off and entered an area where it would no longer be able to communicate shortly. Much later, the plane’s airspeed indicator showed incorrect values, and after that, the autopilot turned off automatically due to those incorrect values. The pilots did not understand what was happening and controlled the aircraft improperly. Finally, the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. When reports were scanned, they found the problem was due to technical failures and pilot error. On the plane’s nose are two metal tubes. These tubes are called pitot probes. These probes calculate air pressure. If one of these probes has a problem, the pilots can see “0” on their screens. When the plane is not in use, pitot probes are covered to prevent insects. Returning to the accident, on that day, pitot probes froze with ice crystals, and after that, the autopilot closed automatically. At that time, nobody understood what the issue was. Evidently, the training of the pilots was not sufficient, and thus the accident happened.

Here are the pictures from the accident:

2-) Japan Airlines Flight 123

Secondly, I chose Japan Airlines Flight 123, which had the highest number of lost lives in a single plane crash. In this crash, 524 people lost their lives due to a significant and important issue. We will also discuss the reasons.

The flight date was August 12, 1985. The plane was en route from Tokyo to Osaka, and the flight was progressing normally, when suddenly they heard an explosion and saw smoke at the back of the plane. Oxygen masks dropped, and flight attendants were trying to calm the passengers down. Unfortunately, there were not enough flight attendants on board, but they did their best to ease the passengers’ fears together. The pilots could not understand what had happened. The captain said, “It sounded like an explosion,” and then the plane began to drop. When the flight engineer in the cockpit checked his screen, he saw that the aircraft’s hydraulic level had dropped and informed the captain about it. After a while, there was no hydraulic pressure left. The pilots worked hard to fly the plane but failed. In the end, the plane crashed into a mountain. When investigators scanned the plane’s technical reports, they determined that one part of the plane’s rear had worn out and broken off, causing the crash.

Below are some pictures from the accident:

3-) Turkish Airlines Flight TK1951

Thirdly, I’ve chosen Turkish Airlines Flight TK1951. Fortunately, only a small number of people lost their lives in this accident, but unfortunately, it wasn’t zero. Nine people lost their lives in this accident. On February 25, 2009, the plane took off from Istanbul and was headed to Amsterdam.

The plane successfully took off from Istanbul, and fortunately, there were no issues during the journey; the aircraft was on autopilot. However, they had an accident during the landing. The plane fell into an area near the runway and separated into 3 pieces. Fortunately, the plane didn’t catch fire; it only dropped and was separated, and it was very close to the airport, so rescuers arrived quickly at the accident area. Also, the black boxes were found in good condition. Analyzing the black boxes, researchers found that the pilot’s speed indicator had been showing the wrong value since the beginning of the flight. When they started to land, the aircraft warning sound was ringing, but the pilot kept turning it off when it started ringing. The altitudes were decreasing, and the aircraft automatically switched to landing mode, and the engines were set to the lowest power. The pilots did not set their altitudes correctly, and the plane crashed.

Some images from the accident :

Graphics of Plane Crashes

As you can see, some basic mistakes have had big and sad results. In my opinion, pilot mistakes cause more plane crashes than other problems because the planes have many sensors and are controlled by a computer, so they are smarter than we are. For example, if the pilots hadn’t made a mistake on Air France 447, the plane might have been rescued, and if the pilots hadn’t decided to go directly into the clouds, the pitot probes wouldn’t have frozen. As I said, for me, pilot errors, i.e., human errors, are the cause of most airplane accidents. Technical failures come in second, and bad weather-related accidents come last because pilots can cope with them.

Accidents are very important in aviation. Investigators work hard to find out what happened in these accidents, and they prepare reports for aviation to ensure that the same things do not happen again. In addition, engineers pay attention to these reports. For example, pitot tubes have a heating system to prevent icing. Also, if there is a pilot error or another issue in an accident, this is taught in pilot training as well.

For instance, in the case of the Bali incident in 2013, the plane was en route from Badung to Denpasar and was beginning its landing procedure. Suddenly, the plane landed in the sea. Fortunately, there were no fatalities; only 45 people were injured. This also shows that the pilots’ training was successful.

That’s all from the Aviation Disasters and Safety Club for today. I hope to meet you again.