VOA标准英语2015--一年后的马航:类似失踪事件可能再次发生

Malaysia Airlines, One Year Later: Similar Disappearance¹ Could Happen Again 一年后的马航:类似失踪事件可能再次发生

On March 8, 2014 a Malaysia Airlines flight took off from Kuala Lumpur enroute to Beijing. All transmission from the plane ended 40 minutes after take-off. The plane has not been found and is presumed to have crashed into the ocean. Exactly what happened and whether this type of incident could occur again remain unresolved issues.

“Good night -- Malaysian 370.” Those were the last words heard from a Malaysia Airlines plane before it vanished from radar². A year later, the plane and the 239 people on board have not been found.  

U.S. commercial airline pilot Captain Ian Gebow said the traditional 30-minute to 60-minute communication between plane and ground needs to be constant when planes are over wide bodies of water when radar is sparse³. "What we really need is real-time data tracking for when an act occurs," he said.

"We are creating a generation of pilots who are monitors, as opposed to professional aviators⁴ ... a generation of pilots who use automation as a crutch⁵ rather than an aide," said Gebow.

ICAO seeks changes

The International Civil Aviation Organization [ICAO], which sets global standards for the airline industry, is recommending that planes report their positions every 15 minutes and every minute during distress⁶.

Less than an hour after MH 370 departed Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, all communication from the plane ceased, and it dropped off radar. The first search area was along the original flight path. But the search areas kept shifting, especially after Malaysian military radar found a final transmission further north -- and that the plane could have flown another seven hours.  

The discrepancy⁷ exists because traditional radar does not track over oceans, and the plane was only equipped to report its location every 60 minutes.

ICAO Council President Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu spoke⁸ via Skype. "Once we implement⁹ this system and we're able to track flights every one minute, that will increase our ability to locate flights."

"Again, I can say this organization is one of 191 member states. We set global standards for harmonized implementation¹⁰. It is necessary for us to get all our members to agree to a particular standard that we have to put in place," said Aliu.

Better technology

Underwater devices searched the ocean floor for MH370, hoping to hear a signal from the flight data recorders. But the recorder batteries only last 30 days. The US Federal Aviation Administration and other global organizations are extending the battery requirements to 90 days, effective in five years.

This also is a problem. Search vehicles heard pinging sounds they thought were coming from the plane, but were actually from marine¹¹ life. Former FAA Accident Investigator¹² David Soucie has written a book on MH370.

He suggests the frequency be changed. “...So that it’s a distinguishable pattern. It’s a pattern that may be able to have a Morse Code situation that tells us what aircraft it actually came from or at least that was from an aircraft,” he said.

Experts also suggest unsinkable flight recorders.

“If you get it floating on the surface,with some sort of locator, both visually and by electronic means, I think that will both expedite the recovery process and also save millions upon millions of dollars in the search,” said Captain Gebow.

Already the MH370 search is the most expensive in aviation history -- estimated at more than $90 million.  

"It's a matter of how much money you want to spend to find an aircraft that has crashed in the middle of the ocean," said Soucie.

Experts agree missing aircraft are rare, but could happen again. They say the probability drops once all this new technology is installed on new planes. That will happen seven years from now.

1 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。

2 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

3 sparse   

adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的

参考例句：

• The teacher's house is in the suburb where the houses are sparse.老师的家在郊区，那里稀稀拉拉有几处房子。
• The sparse vegetation will only feed a small population of animals.稀疏的植物只够喂养少量的动物。

4 aviators   

飞机驾驶员，飞行员( aviator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Analysis on Sickness Status of 1149 Aviators during Recuperation. 飞行员1149例疗养期间患病情况分析。
• In America the whole scale is too big, except for aviators. 在美国整个景象的比例都太大了，不过对飞行员来说是个例外。

5 crutch   

n.T字形拐杖；支持，依靠，精神支柱

参考例句：

• Her religion was a crutch to her when John died.约翰死后，她在精神上依靠宗教信仰支撑住自己。
• He uses his wife as a kind of crutch because of his lack of confidence.他缺乏自信心，总把妻子当作主心骨。

6 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

7 discrepancy   

n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾

参考例句：

• The discrepancy in their ages seemed not to matter.他们之间年龄的差异似乎没有多大关系。
• There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

10 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

11 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

12 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。