discovering the cause of the accident to prevent future accidents

Plane probe must ensure there are no repeats

08/24/2007

In the winter of 75 years ago, the sea plane Shirohato-go was on its way from Osaka to Fukuoka when it lost its course in a blizzard. The craft disintegrated in midair and crashed into a mountain, killing all five people on board.

The accident was investigated thoroughly. By studying the conditions of the scattered debris, the investigators worked backward in time, so to speak, to reconstruct the sequence of events that caused the sea plane to fall apart in midair.

Aided by the uncovering of further evidence, the investigators were eventually able to conclude that the disintegration had been caused by "severed copper wiring inside the wings."

The physicist Torahiko Terada (1878-1935) read the accident report and was greatly impressed by it. "(The report) was far more fascinating than a mediocre detective novel," he later recalled. And he underlined the ultimate purpose of any accident investigation when he observed, "By reinforcing the copper wiring, it should become possible to at least prevent future accidents from the same cause."

Indeed, the primary purpose of investigating an air disaster is not so much to "find the culprit" as to prevent the recurrence of similar tragedies.

As the probe continues into Monday's China Airlines jetliner accident at Naha Airport, there was a large quantity of leaked jet fuel. According to one witness, the Boeing 737-800 aircraft was "gushing jet fuel."

No fuel tank should ever leak. Why, then, was fuel gushing out as if from an open tap? Until the cause has been determined beyond any doubt and countermeasures have been implemented, I certainly would not want to risk my life by taking a Boeing 737-800 flight.

But this is a best-seller model and 10 units are currently in service in Japan.

A newspaper article of 75 years ago described the pilot of the ill-fated Shirohato-go as "one of the best in the nation."

We have since come a long way, from relying almost solely on the aviator's skills to the most advanced aviation technology. In Terada's time, a super-jumbo jet with 800 people on board would have been simply unimaginable.

Still, the importance of "discovering the cause of the accident to prevent future accidents" has not changed with time.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 23(IHT/Asahi: August 24,2007)