Bangkok, ThailandThe McDonnel Douglas MD-82, a line of commercial aircrafts with a history of crashes, is at the centre of a lawsuit against Boeing, after a Thai airliner went down in heavy rain upon hitting an embankment off the island of Phuket on September 16th.
Ninety people lost their lives in the crash of this McDonnel Douglas MD-82, a type of plane that his been involved in thirteen incidents, including the Thai crash. The carrier in question is One-Two-Go, a budget carrier. Survivors of the crash, together with the relatives of people who died, have authorized lawyers to initiate the first of what may become several lawsuits, seeking millions of dollars in compensation for victims of the plane crash.
Among those who died are residents and citizens from the United States and Canada, as well as other countries. The initial lawsuit was filed on behalf of Thai victim Parinyawit Choosaeng, who suffered burns when the plane went down - and names Boeing as the defendant, in view of Boeing's acquisition of McDonnel Douglas ten years ago, in 1997.
When a plane crashes, it constitutes a Catch 22 of sorts, given the statistical evidence (and a long-held belief) that commercial air travel is four times safer than driving a car.
However, even though they occur statistically less-often, plane crashes are such catastrophic events, they're always headline news. Defenders of air travel will always defer to this point.
However, the times they are a-changin'...
The growth of the air taxi and air shuttle industry has put more planes into the air, creating more work for air traffic controllers - the vital link connecting pilots with the all-seeing radar on the ground. Smaller commuter planes and private planes also have a higher incident rate than commercial aircraft - a statistic that turns the old standby of four-times-safer-than-a-car on its ear. To wit, you're seven times MORE likely to be injured in a small plane, than you are in a motor vehicle.
What's more, planes - like cars - are increasingly complex, with much more computer intervention than in a previous era. Gone are the days when your car transmission ground to a halt because there was some kind of jammed cog, or mechanical fault in the transmission itself. In all likelihood, the transmission itself may be fine - but the computer circuitry that controls the shifting has gone wonky.
A plane is no different, as the cockpit is increasingly computerized. Computers are reliable, but not without their flaws. Even were a pilot to take manual control of the aircraft, he will rely on information readouts either controlled by, or generated by a computer.
In August of 2005, a Malaysia Airlines flight with 177 passengers on board were treated to a roller coaster ride when the Boeing 777 took on a mind of its own and suddenly started climbing. It had soared an additional 3,000 feet before the pilot managed to gain control by disconnecting the autopilot. He nosed the plane gently downward - only to have the plane lurch into a steep dive when he attempted to re-engage the autopilot. The captain throttled back the plane's engines in an effort to slow the rate of decent and avoid stalling, only to have the plane power back into another steep climb on its own.
The crew finally managed to settle the plane down and flew their charges safely back to Perth, Australia.
The investigation centred on the air data inertial reference unit, which collects navigational and other data and feeds it to the plane's primary flight computers. In the case of Flight MH124, incorrect acceleration data from a believed fail-safe device was fed to the plane, which caused the erratic behaviour.
In this case the pilots responded correctly and safely, and it appears that the incident is an isolated one, with 525 Boeing 777s in service having 10 million flight hours and two million landings without seeing this kind of problem - a problem that amounted to a software glitch.
The point is, it's one-in-a million, but it can happen. And with the new generation of aircraft relying increasingly on computers, it begs the question: how reliable are the new-generation, 'fly-by-wire' aircraft, over the more traditional aircraft that relied more heavily on hydraulics?
With the so-called fly-by-wire systems, a pilot's basic manoeuvring commands through the flight control in the cockpit generates a series of computer commands through computer inputs, which translates the commands against the present flight conditions.
Thus - beyond simple navigation - more and more control of the aircraft is entrusted to the computer.
In smaller planes, with usage on the rise, the fatality rate is also higher, in line with the accident rate. Small charter operators will not have the financial resources of their well-heeled commercial airline counterparts. Pilots tend to be young and inexperienced, and with limited cash flow, small independent operators could cut corners to keep their planes in the air.
If you or a loved one has been involved in an airplane crash, please contact a lawyer involved in a possible [Plane Crash Lawsuit] who will review your case at no cost or obligation.