Lessons from MH 17

We commented earlier on the MH 370 tragedy, which still remains a mystery with no trace of the plane or passengers found to this day, even four months later. Now Malaysia Airlines has faced another tragedy with the downing of its Flight MH 17 (A Boeing 777) flying to KL from Amsterdam. Nearly 300 passengers and crew on board when a powerful Surface to Air Missile ripped the plane apart at 33,000 feet over the skies of Ukraine, killing everyone.

Various allegations are being levelled as to who fired the missile, but what is more important is the fact that someone fired a missile at a civilian airliner. It is immaterial whether it was fired accidentally or deliberately. In short, it should not have happened at all.

Moreover, the international aviation community too should have been wiser. Euro control has imposed a limit of 32,000 feet below which airliners were not supposed to fly. This is a completely arbitrary number, given that the type of missile which hit MH 17 could actually reach twice the distance - 72,000 feet. MH17 was flying just 1,000 feet above the limit of 32,000 feet, which also makes no sense. That kind of gap makes no difference to a missile.

On its part, Malaysia Airlines said that the air route over Ukraine had been declared safe and many other airlines were also using it. This was indeed true. Several other passenger planes were within 25 Km of the Malaysian plane.

Watching the wall to wall television coverage on the incident recently, I was struck by a question posed by an analyst. The question was not why Malaysian Airlines was flying over Ukraine, but why this particular route was kept open at all. Indeed, it should have been closed several months ago or at least when missiles brought down a number of military jets. Some airlines had voluntarily made the decision not to fly over Ukraine, even if it meant additional expenditure on fuel. The pilots of supersonic military jets at least have the option of ejecting in an emergency, a privilege that civilian pilots (and of course, passengers) do not enjoy.

Mandate

It is clear that the International Civilian Aviation Organisation (ICAO) should be given a bigger mandate and/or additional powers to deal with these circumstances. In the alternative some experts have suggested a separate world body within or outside the UN that can handle matters of this nature in a more decisive manner.

Quite apart from the hostile skies over Ukraine, civil aviation is facing big problems in other parts of the world. Airports in Tripoli, Tel Aviv and Kabul have been attacked leading to the cancellation of flights. Civilian flights were attacked on the ground in Pakistan leading to the deaths of a few passengers. There is said to be a new bomb threat in the form of smartphones and tablets whose battery compartments can apparently be used to house explosives. Most governments and airlines now request passengers to charge and power on their devices at the airport security inspection points.

There should probably be a body that can take charge of the skies in such circumstances and promulgate laws that are binding on Governments and airlines. This will be more reassuring to the travelling public because there will be one industry voice and one law for all.

It is also not too late to establish a world body for investigating air crashes pooling the resources of agencies such as the National Transportation Safety Board of the US and the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) of the UK. Such a body is likely to have more clout and leverage than individual investigating organisations, regarding matters such as access to the crash site in a volatile area.

They will also be able to launch investigations more quickly. As the MH17 incident demonstrated, it is sometimes extremely difficult to secure and gain access to a crash site located in an area not controlled by a government.

MH17 has also once again proved the pressing need for streaming of cockpit data (and even ground to air and internal cockpit conversations) in real time to data servers on the ground. Although the Black Boxes (flight data recorders) of MH17 have been found and handed over to UK investigators, more light could have been shed sooner if immediate access was available to the flight data. There should also be a better method for real-time tracking of aircraft - again the need for this was demonstrated after the loss of MH370.

Technology

The technology for both these endeavours is already available, even though the initial cost could be prohibitive because at any given moment, there are around 13,000 civilian planes in the air worldwide.

By establishing a highly empowered world body, such costs could be shared and the technology could be deployed sooner.

The MH17 tragedy also highlighted the need for the quick repatriation of bodies in the event of a plane crash in a volatile region. Relatives watched in agony as the bodies of their loved ones lay in the hot sun for three or four days following the crash without any attempt being made to collect them in a dignified manner. Apart from DNA analysis, other advanced technologies are also needed to identify the remains of passengers in such an event.

Another point that has been made repeatedly is whether a more accessible Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system could be made available to Governments and other interested parties so that civilian planes could be identified easily. After all, this is not the first time that civilian aircraft had been downed by missile fire - Iranian Airways and Korean Airlines have been the previous victims.

MH370 and MH17 have reinvigorated the debate on aviation safety. There is no doubt, even after the twin tragedies, that aviation is the safest mode of transport ever. And it is an industry that learns from each tragedy, each mistake. There still are many steps that can be taken to improve safety in the skies and the safety of aircraft themselves to reassure passengers.