VOA慢速英语2014 航空旅行是安全的吗?

 

AS IT IS 2014-07-25 Is Air Travel Safe? 航空旅行是安全的吗?

It has been a bad two weeks for air travel.

Last week, Malaysia Airline flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine killing¹ all 298 passengers and crew.  On Wednesday, July 23, two Ukrainian military planes were shot down in the same airspace. 

On the same day a TransAsia Airways² plane crashed in bad weather on the island of Penghu, Taiwan, killing almost 50 people.

On Thursday,  an Air Algeria plane was missing on a flight from Burkina Faso to Algeria with 116 people on board.  Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced later in the day that searchers had spotted³ the wreckage⁴.

These tragedies all followed the mysterious disappearance⁵ earlier this year of Malaysian Airline 370.  The plane was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Investigators⁶ have found no sign of the plane or its 239 passengers

Whether a crash is the results of bad weather, broken equipment, pilot mistake or surface-to-air missiles, the question remains⁷ – is air travel safe?

Christopher Cruise brings us that story.

U.S. temporarily banned flights to Israel

U.S. flight officials this week temporarily banned U.S. airline companies from flying to Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv.  The ban lasted for 24 hours following a rocket strike near the airport. 

The temporary ban took place after a Malaysian airplane was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing 298 people.  But experts say that air travel worldwide remains by far the safest way to travel. 

America’s Federal Aviation Administration banned aircraft from flying to and from Israel's Ben-Gurion airport.  The ban came in the form of what is called a Notice to Airmen.  The F.A.A. acted after a rocket struck about two kilometers from the airport area.

The European Aviation Safety Agency Tuesday called for similar action. Its Safety Information bulletin strongly suggested that airspace users stop operating to and from the airport in Tel Aviv.

Delta⁸ Airlines Flight 468 was on its way from New York to Tel Aviv with 290 passengers and crew when the F.A.A. declared the ban.  The plane was sent to Paris instead of Tel Aviv.  Daniel Leon was aboard that flight.

"Delta had to do what Delta had to do.  It’s quite unfortunate that we were literally⁹ an hour before landing in Ben-Gurion.  But, I respect the decision, right.  I mean, they’ve got some rules that they have to obey, and they explained to us why they were doing it.  There was a bit of confusion on the plane earlier on.  But, I think, we’re on the ground now, they were extremely helpful."

But Israeli officials say there is no security problem.  Transport Minister Yisrael Katz said there was no reason to cancel flights and no reason to surrender to terrorism.

On Tuesday, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was traveling to Tel Aviv on El Al Airlines to show support for the Israeli people.  He also meant  to prove that the airport there is safe.  Mr. Bloomberg called the flight restrictions¹⁰ a mistake that would give Hamas an unearned victory.

Marie Harf is a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department.  In Washington earlier this week, she said the F.A.A. safety notice is meant to guarantee public safety.  Ms. Harf says it is not a political statement directed at Israel about its operation against Hamas militants¹¹ in Gaza.

"I would note that, in 2012, the (State) Department also issued travel warnings for Israel, the West Bank and Gaza in March, August, and December.  So, this is a step we have taken when we felt the situation on the ground warranted it.  Obviously, that is a process that we go through that in no way is policy-related or politically-related.  It is just related to how we can best protect American citizens. The FAA makes these decisions when they feel it’s warranted, again, for the safety of United States citizens.  And they, in response to the recent attack at Ben-Gurion Airport, in the vicinity of Ben-Gurion Airport, after consultation¹² with U.S. operators, felt today that it was important to issue this notice."

Malaysian Airliner¹³ Crash

Concern about airline safety also follows last week’s shooting down of

Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine. U.S. intelligence suggests poorly-trained pro-Russian separatists are responsible.  They are suspected of having used a Russian-made surface-to-air missile.

Scott Hamilton serves as an expert in aircraft use with the Leeham Company.  He says the F.A.A. ban is not unusual.

“The FAA has been issuing no-fly zones for quite a while and, in fact, since the Malaysian (MH17) shoot down, there have been a number of maps that have shown up on the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere that have identified where there are no-fly zones or restricted-area fly zones that the FAA has issues.  And, some of those go back years, if not decades, Somalia, for example, northern Kenya.  Those have been in existence for quite some time.”

The F.A.A. has also restricted U.S. flights over Ethiopia, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia and Ukraine.  It identifies the following countries as possible hostile areas:  Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Iran, Kenya, Mali, Syria and Yemen.

Is Commercial Flying Still the Safest Way to Travel?

Airline Captain John Cox is also chief executive officer of the Washington-based company Safety Operating Systems.  He says it is very safe to fly commercial aircraft. 

“In spite of the tragic¹⁴ loss of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 and the Malaysian Flight 370, it has never been safer to fly.  We flew 3.3-billion passengers last year.  We had the lowest fatality¹⁵ rate in recorded history.  These tragedies do not change the fact of the safety of our aviation system.”

Mr. Cox expressed deep concern about non-military groups having weapons like the SA-11 air-defense system.

“The failure to correctly identify that airplane (MH17) was unconscionable, it was inept¹⁶.  Military organizations don’t have that kind of failure.  Never in history have we had a surface-to-air missile rise to a cruising altitude of a commercial jet, over 30,000 feet (9100 meters).”

Mr. Cox said there are not great numbers of such missile systems in existence.  He added that there will be a joint¹⁷ effort to restrict flying over airspace in areas where open conflict happens. 

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

3 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

4 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

5 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

9 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

11 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

12 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

13 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

14 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

15 fatality   

n.不幸，灾祸，天命

参考例句：

• She struggle against fatality in vain.她徒然奋斗反抗宿命。
• He began to have a growing sense of fatality.他开始有一种越来越强烈的宿命感。

16 inept   

adj.不恰当的，荒谬的，拙劣的

参考例句：

• Whan an inept remark to make on such a formal occasion.在如此正式的场合，怎么说这样不恰当的话。
• He's quite inept at tennis.他打网球太笨。

17 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。