Introduction
Although flying is considered to be the safest way to travel, a lot of different aviation incidents and accidents happen from time to time all across the globe. There are different causes of plane crashes, but the most common are mechanical errors, pilot errors, and weather conditions. The paper is aimed at the comparison of two accidents that demonstrate pilots’ talents and emergency preparedness: United Airlines Flight 232 case and Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident. At first sight, these two accidents do not have similar characteristics due to entirely different causes. However, there are some analogical features and even connections between these two cases.
Comparison of two plane crashes
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10, a three-engine wide-body jet airliner, landed under emergency conditions in Sioux City on July 19, 1989. As it is described by the Aviation Safety Network (n.d.a.), about one hour after takeoff the tail-mounted engine number two was destroyed. The crew was able to land the plane without conventional control at the airport of Sioux City, but the right-wing of the airliner hit the runway, and the plane broken into several parts. There were 296 people on board (285 passengers and 11 crew members), of whom 111 died, and 185 survived. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (n.d.), the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the United Airlines personnel to detect a fatigue crack located in a critical area of the stage one fan disk. The three hydraulic systems were lost that is why the crew almost could not control the airplane.
Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident is an aviation case occurred on the 22nd of November, 2003. The Aviation Safety Network (n.d.b.) identifies that soon after taking off from Baghdad airport the cargo aircraft Airbus A300B4-203F was hit by a surface-to-air missile that damaged the console and the mechanization of the left-wing. It caused the leakage of aviation fuel and the complete loss of hydraulic flight control systems. However, the flight crew was able to land the plane at Baghdad airport. Unlike the United Airlines Flight 232 case no one of the three crew members died. The type of landing was similar to the landing of DC-10 in 1989. Space Daily (2003) underlines that the captain of the DHL Airbus A300 attended the seminar in Brussels earlier where the captain who commanded the United Airlines DC-10 and could land the plane performed. Two captains landed the aircrafts using engine power only.
Conclusion
To sum up, it is believed that flying is the safest mode of transportation. Nevertheless, no one is 100% safe from air accidents. It is confirmed by the fact that a lot of different aviation incidents occur periodically according to the same scheme. The brightest example is United Airlines Flight 232 and Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown cases. It is worth mentioning that United Airlines Flight 232 catastrophe was caused by an engine failure, and the DHL Airbus A300 was struck by a missile. Even so, the result of these two cases was the same. There were complete hydraulic system failures and losses of all the main controls that depend on hydraulics. It forced the pilots to land the planes using differential thrust. While the causes of the accidents were different, the problems and types of landing were similar. These two accidents demonstrate the incredible feat of airmanship.
References
Space Daily. (2003). DHL aircraft hit by a missile over Baghdad had lost all hydraulics. Web.
The Aviation Safety Network. (n.d.a.). Accident description. Web.
The Aviation Safety Network. (n.d.b.). Criminal occurrence description. Web.
The National Transportation Safety Board. (n.d.). Aircraft accident report. Web.