2007年VOA标准英语-Questions Raised Over Airline Safety in Indones

By Chad Bouchard
Jakarta
06 January 2007

Critics raising concerns about Indonesia's disaster response system and the safety of the country's rapidly growing budget airline industry following the disappearance¹ of a Boeing 737 on New Year's Day. Chad Bouchard reports for VOA from Jakarta.

A crew of an Indonesian Navy surveillance plane talks on the radio during a search mission for the missing Adam Air jetliner over Sulawesi island, Indonesia, 03 Jan 2007

After five days of conflicting reports in the search for the airliner² of Indonesian budget carrier Adam Air, there is still no sign of any wreckage³.

The airliner was carrying 102 passengers and crew on a domestic flight New Year's Day, when it vanished from air traffic controllers' radar⁴. The airliner had reportedly changed course twice in bad weather.

The search initially⁵ concentrated on a mountainous area of Sulawesi Island. But, after thousands of rescuers failed to find evidence of the crash, the search was extended to a 72,500 square-kilometer area, mainly open ocean.

Search officials originally reported that the pilot issued two distress⁶ signals, but those reports have since been retracted⁷.

The government also apologized for erroneous reports that 12 people had survived the crash.

Crisis management expert Ong Hock Chuan says the misinformation and confusion in the search demonstrates shortcomings in Indonesia's response to disaster.

"When you have public figures making huge fiascoes like this, it just gives the whole country a very bad image," he said.  "It gives the whole world an impression that, you know, Indonesia doesn't have its act together.  It's Keystone Kops time."

Ong says, officials with Indonesia's budget airlines have told him about what they say is an endemic lack of maintenance and safety standards within the industry.

Budget airlines have grown rapidly in Indonesia over the past few years, with cheap flights to many of the country's 17,000 islands.

Ong says officials have reported that maintenance records are rife⁸ with errors, and a black market for unreliable spare parts is growing.

Critics have also raised concerns about the progress of the search.

Transport officials have looked for two beacons⁹ that were aboard Adam Air flight 574, but several transmissions have been detected, confusing the search.

The country lacks the expensive equipment needed to track such signals by satellite, and is relying on satellite information from neighboring Singapore in the hunt for the plane.

Indah Sukmaningsih, chairwoman of the Indonesia Consumers Foundation, is troubled that airline safety in Indonesia is not up to international standards.

Sukmaningsih says passengers expect airlines and the government to have the highest level of safety and oversight¹⁰. But she says the budget airline industry and transport officials need stronger regulation and enforcement.

She says consumers have a right to expect safety in the air, no matter what the cost of the ticket.

Government and industry officials contend that airline safety is high, with regular maintenance and strict enforcement of standards.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has launched a special investigation¹¹ into shortfalls within transportation industries throughout the country.

1 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

2 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

3 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

4 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

7 retracted   

v.撤回或撤消( retract的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝执行或遵守；缩回；拉回

参考例句：

• He made a false confession which he later retracted. 他作了假供词，后来又翻供。
• A caddy retracted his statement. 一个球童收回了他的话。 来自辞典例句

8 rife   

adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的

参考例句：

• Disease is rife in the area.疾病在这一区很流行。
• Corruption was rife before the election.选举之前腐败盛行。

9 beacons   

灯塔( beacon的名词复数 )； 烽火； 指路明灯； 无线电台或发射台

参考例句：

• A chain of beacons was lit across the region. 整个地区点起了一系列灯塔。
• Lighthouse and beacons flash at night. 晚上灯塔与信号台闪着光。

10 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

11 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。