EUROPE: Important Plane Crashes

A Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed into the French Alps on March 24, 2015 during a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf. All 144 passengers and six crew members were killed. A co-pilot with mental problems intentionally crashed the plane.

Rebels in eastern Ukraine were accused of shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17, 2014 during a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

All 298 people on board died, 193 of them Dutch. A Dutch investigation found pro-Russian rebels shot the plane down with a Buk surface-to-air missile launched from separatist territory in eastern Ukraine.

A Polish air force plane carrying President Lech Kaczynski crashed near the Russian airport of Smolensk on April 10, 2010. A Russian and Polish investigation found pilot error during landing in thick fog caused the crash that killed more than 90 people.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of Lech and leader of the ruling PiS, suggested the crash was a political assassination.

An Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed in the Atlantic on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 people on board.

It took nearly two years for the black box to be recovered from the bottom of the ocean. The investigation found a combination of technical and pilot error caused the crash.

A Spanair MD-82 plane crashed after take-off from Madrid airport on August 20, 2008, killing 154 people.

Surprisingly, 18 people survived the crash and subsequent fire. The crash was caused by an improper flap and slat configuration and a failure of the pilots to follow a pre-flight checklist.

A Russian passenger plane operated by Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise crashed near the eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk on August 22, 2006, killing all 170 people aboard. The plane was flying from St. Petersburg to the Black Sea resort of Anapa.

A Helios Airways flight from Cyprus crashed on August 14, 2005 near its destination Athens, killing all 121 on board. The crash was caused by a loss of cabin pressurization that immobilized the crew. The plane flew on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and crashed.

On October 8, 2001 a Scandinavian Airlines MD-87 airliner collided with a small Cessna on take-off from Milan's Linate Airport. All 114 people on the SAS and Cessna aircraft were killed, as were four people on the ground. The accident happened in thick fog. The SAS plane crashed into a hangar.

On July 25, 2000 a Air France Concorde flight from Paris to New York crashed two minutes after take-off, killing 109 people on board and four people on the ground.

The crash was caused by the Concorde running over a piece of debris on the runway, which sent tire debris into part of the fuel tank that burst into flames.


Tourism Observer

MALAYSIA: Malaysia Airlines May Introduce Premium Economy Option

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) could introduce a premium economy option to attract long-haul business travelers as one part of a broader strategy to try to help it exit years of losses, its CEO said in an interview.

The airline, which introduced a new business class seat last week, will make a decision in “a couple of months,” CEO Christoph Mueller said, speaking on the sidelines of an industry event in Bali.

“We are very happy with business class demand, and this gives us the opportunity to increase the revenue per passenger in the economy class. The target passenger is in economy class, and you don’t want to cannibalize the business class,” said Mueller.

The airline is seeking recovery after suffering huge damage to its brand after flight MH370, carrying 239 passengers and crew, disappeared in March last year. In July 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, and all 298 aboard were killed.

Mueller, an experienced industry executive, was hired to push through restructuring at MAS in May after Malaysian national investment firm Khazanah took it private late last year as part of a 6 billion ringgit ($1.37 billion) program that also cut the airline’s workforce by a third.

Introducing premium economy seats — usually wider and with more leg room than in economy class — would allow MAS to compete more effectively for business passengers against its rivals. Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways began offering a premium economy option in 2012, and Singapore Airlines from this year.

Airlines like SIA also offer priority check-in, boarding and baggage handling.
All MAS aircraft currently operate in a two-class configuration — business and economy — except for its Airbus jumbo A380s, which also have a first class option. MAS considered premium economy for the A380s in 2012, but decided against it in favor of additional economy class seats