We were all rudely jolted by news of another ADC airplane crash in Nigeria today. Damn, how many times will these metal birds fall of the sky before someone starts to do something? It is pretty unfortunate how human lives are just wantonly wasted because some dude is inept and corrupt.
Even though it seems every other flight is crashing in Nigeria, the recent spate of air crashes has gone up pretty much same way in other parts of the world. But what I have seen is that, most, if not all these airlines are budget airlines; not anyone of the majors has suffered a catastrophic crash. The nearest is that of Air France in Canada last August but they got every passenger and crew out under 90 seconds flat.
Could it be that the intense competition in air travels (think of EasyJet, JetBlue, RyanAir) have made everyone cut cost so much that some people cut their corners too close? Could it be that the increase in number of aircrafts in the sky is overwhelming national airspaces? Could it be that pilots are now poorly trained and unmotivated? Or may be the end of time is just hours away?
Some of the deadliest plane crashes in the past two years:
- Oct. 29, 2006: A Nigerian ADC Airlines plane carrying 104 people crashed shortly after taking off during a storm in Abuja. Six people survived, but the others were feared dead.
- Sept. 29, 2006: A Gol Airlines flight crashed in the Brazilian jungle after clipping a private jet, killing all 154 people aboard.
- Aug. 22, 2006: A Russian Pulkovo Airlines jetliner returning from the Black Sea resort of Anapa crashed in Ukraine during a thunderstorm, killing all 170 people on board.
- July 9, 2006: A Russian S7 airliner crashed while landing on a wet runway in the Siberian city of Irkutsk and burst into flames, killing 124 people.
- May 3, 2006: An Armenian Armavia airliner crashed in the Black Sea while trying to land in the Russian resort city of Sochi in rough weather, killing all 113 people aboard.
- Dec. 6, 2005: A C-130 military transport carrying Iranian journalists crashed into a building in a Tehran suburb as the pilot attempted an emergency landing, killing 115 people – 94 in the plane and 21 on the ground.
- Dec. 10, 2005: A Nigerian Sosoliso Airlines jet crashed in Port Harcourt, killing 107 people, most of them schoolchildren.
- Oct. 22, 2005: A Nigerian Bellview Airlines jetliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Lagos, killing all 117 people aboard.
- Sept. 5, 2005: An Indonesian Mandala Airlines jetliner crashed into a crowded neighborhood moments after takeoff, killing 143 people – 99 on the plane and 44 on the ground.
- Aug. 16, 2005: A West Caribbean Airways charter jet crashed in Venezuela, killing 160 people, most of them tourists from Martinique.
- Aug. 14, 2005: A Helios Airways flight from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Athens crashed into a hillside outside Athens, killing 121 people.
- Feb. 3, 2005: An Afghan Kam Air plane crashed in the mountains in bad weather, killing 104 people.
