이번주 시사영어 강의 기사 : 일본 항공기 사고의 기적적인 승객 전원 무사. 원인은

[조국현]

이번 주에는 지난주 화요일에 있었던 일본 항공기 충돌 사고에서

기적적으로 승객과 승무원이 전원 무사했던 내용을 가지고

영어훈련하겠습니다.

원래 항공기 제작 승인과정에서

90초 안에서 전원 피난할 수 있는 테스트를 거친다고 합니다.

그만큼 90초 안에 피난하는 것이 중요하다는 것인데요,

이번 일본 항공 여객기와 일본 해상 보안청 소속 항공기의 충돌 이후

승객과 승무원 전원 피신하는 데 18분이 걸렸다고 합니다.

그렇게 오랜 시간이 흘렀어도 인명피해가 전혀 없었다는 건

매우 이례적이라는 것이 글쓴이의 주장인데요,

글쓴이의 논리를 감상해 보겠습니다.

이번 주 글쓴이의 글솜씨는 매우 깔끔하고 창의적입니다.

어떤 표현이 창의적이고

웬만한 한국인들이 영작하기 쉽지 않은 표현들을

저와 함께 감상하시겠습니다.

18 Minutes to Evacuate a Burning Plane:

Success Story or Cautionary Tale?

In its certification, Airbus was required to prove that its A350 aircraft can be evacuated in less than 90 seconds. In Tuesday’s collision in Japan, the last crew member escaped the aircraft after 18 minutes—but there were still no casualties.

The sizable discrepancy, for the moment, represents a puzzle for the industry: Does the safe and deliberate evacuation represent a triumph of new aircraft designs and improved procedures? Or was it a one-off, a fortunate confluence of events that doubles as a cautionary tale showing how difficult it is to quickly evacuate modern aircraft?

Aircraft safety and evacuation experts are applauding Japan Airlines’ cabin crew and passengers for escaping the burning wide-body plane without any loss of life before its fuselage collapsed. In doing so, they avoided what could have been one of the most deadly plane crashes in decades.

“Obviously it took a lot more than 90 seconds, but even though it did take longer, it was a very organized and a very orderly evacuation, and it was impressive,” said Anthony Brickhouse, an associate professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and director of its forensic crash lab. “This is a great case study.”

The 18-minute timeline begins at the moment of the airliner’s collision with a coast guard plane. It isn’t clear how long it took for the airliner to reach a standstill or when the formal evacuation order was given. Early passenger accounts suggest that the crew struggled for about three minutes to determine which exit doors were safe to open, and subsequently it took more than 10 minutes for all passengers and crew to leave the plane.

By comparison, in May 2019, a Russian-built and operated Sukhoi Superjet 100 was struck by lightning shortly after takeoff, forcing it to make an emergency landing. The aircraft hit the ground in the process, collapsing its landing gear, leaking fuel from the jet and causing a fire to erupt at the rear of the plane.

Videos of that incident showed passengers evacuating the aircraft for about 70 seconds before the plane was inescapable. Of 78 passengers and crew onboard, 37 survived, and the remaining—all seated toward the back of the aircraft where escape chutes weren’t available—died in the fire. 

In 2020, a U.S. government watchdog published a report that reviewed accidents in the U.S. from 2009 to 2016. A range of factors led to those prolonged evacuations that took between roughly two and five minutes, the report found, including poor decision-making between cabin crew and pilots, and failures by passengers to pay attention during safety briefings, to leave all cabin bags behind, and to not use their cellphones during the evacuation.

The Japan Airlines crew appeared to dodge many, if not all of those pitfalls, but it is still not clear exactly why the evacuation took as long as it did. 

Current standards set by regulators including the Federal Aviation Administration and its European counterpart—which certifies all Airbus jets—equire manufacturers to demonstrate that passengers can evacuate within 90 seconds under conditions that are meant to simulate real life. 

The tests are an expensive and critical piece of the certification process. Airbus and Boeing recruit hundreds of volunteers to act as passengers on board with at least 40% of the participants required to be female, 35% over the age of 50 and a minimum 15% both female and over 50. Three life-size dolls must be carried to simulate real infants aged 2 years or younger.

Cabin luggage, blankets and pillows are also required to be strewn across the floor to create minor obstructions, and the lighting in the cabin must be dimmed to simulate the conditions of a catastrophic event. Only half the aircraft’s exits can be used—for the A350, that would mean four of eight—and passengers aren’t given a warning of when the evacuation is set to take place. 

Tuesday’s evacuation in Tokyo looked very different. Only two of the plane’s exits at the front and one at the back were initially deemed safe—ne less than the total used in the certification tests. The aircraft, typically used on Japan Airlines’ domestic routes, also had a high density configuration, capable of carrying 391 passengers, compared with the standard 300 to 350 seats.

The exit at the back was also likely available only temporarily before the flames had spread, leaving passengers near the back of the plane needing to reach the front two exits, their vision and breathing obstructed by the smoke that was rapidly filling the cabin. 

The aircraft itself was tilted forward after the front landing gear collapsed making it difficult for passengers to navigate. The angle also hindered the steepness and therefore the speed of the aircraft’s front two chutes. Cabin crew were left using megaphones or simply shouting when the public address system failed. On the pilot’s final sweep of the cabin, he also found some passengers who were still there, prolonging the full evacuation.

[WSJ]