As if the mysterious disappearance of Flight 370 of the Malaysia Airlines with 239 passengers was not enough, another of its Boeing 777 flights MH 17 has been shot down over Russian rebel-held Ukraine! There is no reason to think that the tragedy suffered by the airlines in March and the latest one in which 298 lives perished are in any way connected. Coincidence as it may be, there is however little solace for the Malaysians. They may very well look for an answer to their searching question, "why should it be we again?"
Fatalists may reconcile with the tragic incidents, thinking that those were predestined. But when there is a unanimous agreement that a missile fired at the airliner brought it down, no civilised human being can reconcile with the barbaric act. Even the word 'outrage' cannot be equal to the loathing felt for the unprovoked carnage. About two dozen passenger aircraft have been shot down in the history of aviation but the majority of which went down when countries were in war. At least five such incidents took place in recent times not at the hands of warring parties but, it seems, the macabre missions were carried out in cold blood. The Korean Airlines may count it highly ill-fated when two of its airliners were intercepted by Soviet fighter planes. The first incident involving its aircraft on April 20, 1978 however ended in forced landing by the Soviet jets. Only two passengers died. The second Korean flight Boeing 747 with 269 passengers and crew had no such luck. All of them, including a US congressman, were killed.
Similarly, an Air Malawi scheduled passenger flight was downed during the civil war in Mozambique. The US warship Vincennes also has the dubious distinction of bringing down an Iranian passenger flight with 290 passengers on board in 1988. The Ukrainian military also got its name slurred with this murderous act on October 4, 2001 when it brought down a Russian passenger jet over the Black Sea.
Not all such shooting-downs were intentional, some of them might have been accidental. When technology gives wrong readings, accident can happen. But now radar detection has become more advanced and precise and still the mystery of the flight MH370's disappearance is yet to be solved. This is intriguing. In the same breath, one would like to know if there is no system for double check before firing a surface-to-air missile at an airliner. Is there enough scope for confusing a surveillance or fighter jet with a passenger aircraft? Parties responsible for the shooting often advance lame excuses that they thought the objects of their target were inimical to their interests or a direct threat to their safety. If this is so, fighter planes can be sent to intercept an offending jet and compelled to make forced landing.
Involved here are lives of hundreds of innocent and unsuspecting people who have nothing to do with conflicts between two parties -either of which are likely to be responsible for the firing of the missile. Such mindless acts have been committed during conflicts and in peace time. One thing is clear that human psyche is more obsessed with taking lives rather than saving those. At least the powerful could not care less if innumerable lives had to be sacrificed to protect their narrow interests and spheres of influence.             Â
Why are airliners shot down?
Neil Ray | Published: July 21, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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