Mayday, mayday, mayday!

摘要

Aircraft accidents are object lessons. Some, of course, teach more than others. One of the most classic involves Avianca 52, a Boeing 707 passenger flight that had departed Medellin, Colombia, on January 25,1990, and ran out of fuel six hours and 26 minutes later. The aircraft crashed in a wooded residential area of Long Island 18 miles northeast of John F. Kennedy Airport, its destination. Although this accident was analyzed and dissected long ago, one question never was answered: Why did the pilots not declare an emergency and land safely while there were numerous opportunities to do so? Their last opportunity occurred after the flight missed its first approach into JFK. The approach controller advised the crew that he would be vectoring the aircraft 15 miles northeast before turning it inbound for a second approach. The fuel gauges read Empty and the engines were running on fumes-yet the first officer replied by saying, "OK. Thank you very much."