Most experts consider air travel to be the safest mode of transportation. Airlines, nevertheless, sometimes violate air safety rules by failing to comply with established standards, procedures, policies, or defined customs. These deliberate violations can be prevented to ensure safety both for passengers and employees. Several incidents involving American Airlines have demonstrated how safety violations can lead to fatal events.
On May 25, 1970, an American Airline McDonnel Douglas DC-10-10 was involved in a fatal crash without survivors (Ranter, 1979). The plane’s left engine separated from the left-wing as the aircraft was engaging in a takeoff rotation. The separation of the engine damaged hydraulic fluid line that keeps the leading-edge slats steady and a section of the leading edge of the left-wing. The outboard slats retracted, which led to unbalanced aircraft aerodynamics that caused sharp left rolling before the plane crashed near the runway killing all 271 people on board. The incident was due to the company’s violation of safety rules in which the maintenance unit had used a shortcut for removing the engine pylon and wind for servicing. The maintenance technicians parked forklift under the wing, which caused metal fatigue that led to the crash.
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The incident highlights how some Airlines ignore the safety of the passengers by ignoring small events that can lead to more significant and more severe accidents. Airlines may ignore safety measures because of the high costs involved, which may negatively affect their profits and revenues. For instance, it is expensive to hire qualified maintenance technicians, which compels some companies to high a few in-house maintenance technicians or contract maintenance work to cheaper companies (Shannon, 2016). In turn, this leads to predictable safety outcomes that are mostly fatal.
References
Ranter, H. (1979, May 25). ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 N110AA Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, IL (ORD). Retrieved September 26, 2019 from https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19790525-2
Shannon, P. (2016, September 5). Airline safety: Cutting corners, costing lives. Retrieved September 26, 2019 from https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/airline-safety-cutting- corners-costing-lives
