Concern over aviation safety
Dear Sir,
This is with reference to the article “Aviation under spotlight for the wrong reasons” (Gulf Times, July 24) by Updesh Kapur.
Passenger comfort and safety form the basis of any successful aviation marketing strategy. Air travel is, after all, not just a matter of reaching a place faster. It’s more to do with travelling in comfort and reaching safely. Everything else is secondary.
Over the last four months, the world has been witness to both the MH370 and MH17 tragedies which have left behind scores of grieving people and a seemingly helpless aviation industry. Today, MH370 and MH17 are not just flight numbers. They are a crude reminder of the pain and agony people the world over have gone through in losing their near and dear ones on account of the irresponsible acts of certain people. That’s painful indeed.
The question remains. Who is responsible for the MH17 downing? Did the rebels alone do it? Or must we also blame one of the major powers which has apparently been supplying devastating armoury to the unaccounted rebels to strengthen their stance and which is now acting seriously concerned over the tragedy.
While the aviation industry today has been able, more or less, to avoid aviation accidents on account of human error/technical issues, the threat of irresponsible acts by terrorist groups and criminal minds armed with deadly arsenals is here to stay and its time that flight safety features encompass all such aspects.
We must also look at the possibility of ways to shield our passenger aircraft against any planned or accidental attack, both from the skies and from the ground. The ability of an aircraft to deploy counter measures on being targeted by a weapon system must be incorporated by the airline industry forthwith.
The exploitation of available satellite cover to pinpoint/track all airborne and grounded aircraft and a review of the security protocols to include a modification of flight paths/altitudes, especially over the established conflict zones, shall address the issue.
At the international/strategic level there is a need for an element of accountability and moral responsibility among the empowered nations to stop proliferation of weapons of destruction, especially among unaccountable elements, to prevent any targeting of innocent civilians in future.
Anil Upadhyay
(Address supplied)
