Is AirAsia responsible for its own loss?

Is AirAsia responsible for its own loss?

Introduction

AirAsia is a low cost Malaysian airline. The headquarters of AirAsia are at Kuala Lampur, the capital. 2014 was an unpleasant year for the Malaysian aviation industry as they faced quite a few major flight mishaps. One Malaysian flight went missing early this March and another was shot down in Ukraine in July. Now, a third incident is added to the count.

Flight QZ8501, an AirAsia Indonesia aircraft, lost its contact with the base and went missing with around 162 people on board. A long investigation followed the missing of the plane. On the third day officials confirmed that the missing flight has crashed into the sea as they recovered 40 bodies and some debris of the aircraft.

The AirAsia Indonesia plane started flying in 2008. It had flown 13600 times and had completed 23000 hours. It had undergone its last maintenance work in November, 2014.

Now, let us take a look on whether AirAsia should be held responsible for the missing flight.

Yes – AirAsia should be held responsible.

1. Safety – The plane had undergone its last maintenance work in November i.e. just last month. But AirAsia should have checked the flight once more before permitting it to take off.

2. Poor communication – Due to the poor communication system the pilots could not reach the authorities at the base in case of the emergency.

3. New Path– The pilots wanted to change their path but their request was rejected due to the air traffic. AirAsia could have contacted the air traffic control and should have granted the permission to change the path.

4. Prevented the takeoff – Due to the bad weather, many flights were canceled. AirAsia also could have canceled Flight QZ8501.

5. Inadequate training – Being a low cost airline, AirAsia might have been taking people who are not very skilled in operating a plane.

No – AirAsia should not be held responsible.

1. Bad weather – The aircraft went missing due to the bad weather and not because of the irresponsibility of AirAsia.

2. Air traffic –The pilots wanted to increase the altitude of the flight. But the authorities rejected the request due to the air traffic. This was a good decision on the part of AirAsia as they were trying to prevent any clash of routes.

3. Reputation – AirAsia has always maintained a good reputation and people have always had a good opinion about AirAsia. This is one of the cheapest flights. The missing of Flight QZ8501, is the first such incident in the history of AirAsia.

4. Signal – The missing flight did not give any signal of emergency. Hence, even the AirAsia authorities were unaware of the upcoming tragedy.

5. Quick response - AirAsia responded quickly to the queries of the relatives and did not delay in attending to them. It shows that they do fulfill their responsibility towards the passengers.

Conclusion

The search for the missing plane is still on. According to the people in Indonesia, AirAsia was a good plane with cheap rates and it gave employment opportunities to many. The actual reason for the crashing of the plane can be known only when the investigation is over. Countries like the US, France and Australia are offering their full support and help to track down the missing flight.