SA’s Boeing fleet ‘safe and reliable’

South Africans do not have to be worried about Boeing 737-800 aircraft, say experts.

Concerns over safety were heightened after China Eastern Airlines grounded its entire fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft, following Monday’s deadly crash. An industry safety expert told The Citizen that grounding a fleet of reliable aircraft could be a cautionary exercise pending an investigation, but may also be a public relations exercise to show how seriously the carrier considers safety following the incident.

Flight MU5735 crashed into a hillside near Wuzhou in Guangxi, China, with 123 passengers and nine crew members on board. No survivors were reported. FlySafair, which operates one of the largest fleets of the aircraft type in South Africa, was quick to reassure travellers.

Its spokesperson Kirby Gordon said: “The Boeing 737 family of aircraft is one of the most popular and fastest-selling family of aircraft in modern aviation. Millions of passengers worldwide have flown on these aircraft.

“In South Africa most carriers operate the 737-800 Next Generation aircraft which has a phenomenal track record for safety and reliability.”

Comair brands kulula and British Airways SA also operate 737s, including the 800 series. The company was recently grounded for five days by civil aviation about its safety management system compliance after a series of safety-related incidents.

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Another Comair jet experienced technical issues last Sunday. Aircraft engineer and former aviation head of operations Sybrand Strachan said the Boeing 737-800 was one of the best aircraft designed and built. China Eastern has a fleet of 1 200. Reports of a dramatic pattern of descent, said Strachan, point to four potential causes.

“While this remains speculation … it could be suicide, an explosion on board, an explosive decompression, or catastrophic structural failure. Lastly and highly unlikely could be extreme turbulence.”

China Eastern Airlines said yesterday it was tightening cockpit protocols across its fleet. Decompression is when the conditions inside a pressurised cabin cannot be maintained. An explosive decompression occurs when pressurised air leaves the cabin at a rapid speed, likely through a tear in the fuselage.

“The fuselage seems to be intact, ruling out explosive decompression.”

Strachan said accidents during the cruise phase of a flight are rare, and a suicide flight may have shown a different rate of descent.

The aircraft may have suffered catastrophic structural failure. Video footage showed part of the tail, the horizontal stabilisers, were missing.

Reports also suggest the aircraft slowed down before descent. This could suggest it lost its wings, said Strachan. But that is not clear on available visuals.

– news@citizen.co.za