亚洲航空安全未因马航飞机失联受质疑

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.

马来西亚航空公司(Malaysian Airlines)失联客机的搜寻工作目前仍在进行当中。而与此同时专家指出，过去十年来亚洲诸多航空公司的安全记录都实现了大幅提升，亚洲航空业的安全性已经进入全球排名的前列。

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.

周六早间，一架从吉隆坡飞往北京的波音(Boeing) 777-200型客机在起飞两小时后与地面空管人员失去联络，这架飞机上搭载了239名乘客。目前马来西亚、新加坡和越南当局正加紧搜寻这架客机的下落。

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.

尽管飞机的命运仍是一个未知数，但航空专家指出，这家马来西亚国家航空公司在东南亚的航空产业内拥有着出色的安全记录。

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.

马来西亚航空69.4%的股权由马来西亚国库控股公司(Khazanah Nasional Bhd.)持有。根据航空安全网络(Aviation Safety Network)的数据，马来西亚航空上一次发生导致人员丧失的事故是在1995年，当年该公司的一架小型涡轮螺旋桨飞机在着陆尝试失败后失事，并致34人遇难。

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.

与之相比，自上世纪80年代至21世纪初期间，随着亚洲商用航空产业的起步，该地区诸多发展中国家的航空公司发生了多起重大事故，使得中国大陆、台湾、韩国和印度尼西亚等地航空公司的声誉严重受损。

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)的一家空中客车(Airbus) A300型客机发生空难，导致234人遇难。两个月后，新加坡航空旗下胜安航空(SilkAir)一架投入使用仅10个月的波音737-300型客机在印度尼西亚巨港附近坠毁，机上104人全部遇难。

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.

但专家表示，过去10年来亚洲的航空公司和各国政府在加强员工培训和航空基础设施建设方面投入来数十亿美元，亚洲航空业的安全性已有相当大的改善。专家还称，自上世纪90年代以来，中国已彻底转变为全世界最安全的航空地区之一。

'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.

总部位于吉隆坡的航空业组织――亚太航空公司协会(Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, 简称AAPA)总干事赫德曼(Andrew Herdman)表示，亚洲航空公司的安全水准已经达到了全球航空业的整体水平。

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.

赫德曼称，过去10年来中，亚洲航空业的机身损毁率已从每一百万架次中损毁一架，降至了每三百万架次中损毁一架。

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.

然而在一些亚洲小国家的市场上（尤其是部分东南亚发展中国家的小型支线客机市场），安全问题仍然令人担忧。今年2月份，尼泊尔航空公司(Nepal Airlines)一架加拿大产的海獭式双涡轮螺旋桨飞机坠毁，机上18人全部遇难，这是2008年以来该国第七起造成人员丧生的商用客机坠毁事故，这七起事故共造成125人遇难。

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.

亚洲其他地区方面，今年早些时候美国联邦航空管理局(U.S. Federal Aviation Authority, 简称FAA)在评估印度的监管监督后，下调了这个南亚国家的航空安全等级。同时，印尼多家航空公司仍在欧盟的安全观察名单上。不过，安全标准有所提高的一个迹象是，2009年旗舰航空公司嘉鲁达印尼航空(Garuda Indonesia)被移出安全观察名单，是为数不多被剔除出该名单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.

此次失踪的波音777-200飞机产自波音公司(Boeing Co.)。总部位于芝加哥的波音称，每天约有600万人登上飞机并安全抵达目的地，商用飞机的总体安全记录是相当不错的，而且随着时间的推移一直在稳步提高。这架飞机于2002年5月份被交付给马来西亚航空。

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年问世后，波音777迅速成为亚洲全方位服务航空公司的主力机型，执飞从亚洲到欧美的区域和远程航班，每天穿梭往返，运送数千名乘客。亚洲的航空公司认为，相比机体较大的波音747，双引擎的波音777更省油、更可靠，所以它们用波音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.

波音的数据显示，目前遭遇空难事故的机率还不到200万分之一，已经远远低于上世纪50至60年代时的20万分之一。

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.

至于失踪的马航波音飞机，越南海军称，它有可能坠入了距离越南海岸约153海里的海中。越南海军无法确认可能失事的地点，马来西亚航空和马来西亚政府则表示，飞机尚未找到。

'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师Harshvardhan称，他认为只有两种可能：一，不明确的机械故障；二，恐怖主义袭击――这就可以解释为何飞行员完全没有意识到发生问题，也没有作出反应，而空中交通指挥员也没有听到任何报告。

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说，如果出现故障，飞机会发出警告，或尝试紧急着陆。这架飞机当时载有足够的燃料，可以额外飞行两个小时。分析师们称，逝去的每一分钟都指向了空难。

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.'

航空和休闲咨询公司Global Market Advisors的合伙人格拉维兹(Jonathan Galaviz)说，时间一小时一小时地过去，还没有看到生命的迹象，这加大了灾难性事故的可能性。此次航班飞行的航线地形险恶，天气条件可能也比较恶劣。

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.

波音估计，未来20年，亚太地区的客流增长将占到全球航空客流量增长的近一半。波音上个月称，为了顺应这一增长，亚太地区将需要12,820架新飞机，总价值约1.9万亿美元。