Salon :: Tech & Business

Ask the pilot: Lessons from a burning plane: What the media didn't tell you about a near disaster in Asia

If you were watching TV on or around Aug. 20, doubtless you caught the spectacular footage of a burning China Airlines jet on the Japanese island of Okinawa. The Boeing 737-800 caught fire shortly after landing and burst into a fireball on the parking apron. <P>The incident was eerily reminiscent of the quasi crash of an Air France jet in Toronto two summers ago. The causes of the mishaps were entirely different -- a fuel tank puncture in Okinawa; a crew-induced runway overrun at Toronto -- but in both cases all passengers and crew managed to escape before the aircraft was completely gutted by fire. And in both cases, media coverage was error-prone and sensationalist. <p>...</p><img src="http://feeds.salon.com/~r/salon/tech/~4/153246141" height="1" width="1"/>

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