Aeromexico crash | Stronger planes can mean fewer fatalities

Passengers in plane crashes like yesterday’s Aeromexico accident — in which no one died — have better chances of survival due to better aircraft construction and safety standards, experts say.

Air safety investigator Adrian Young, from the Netherlands- based consultancy To70, says that crash survival rates “are higher than they have ever been” in part because “airplanes are stronger than ever.”

People are now less likely to be trapped by collapsed seats and floors, especially if the plane comes to rest more or less level and the accident occurs on flat ground, as in the crash in northern Mexico. He told The Associated Press it was too early to speculate about the cause.

Other improvements in recent decades include interior materials that burn more slowly and don’t give off poisonous gases, and better airport construction that eliminates obstacles near runways.

Young cautioned as well that “good fortune is crucial in any accident.”

Authorities said there were no fatalities among the 97 passengers and four crew members aboard the Embraer 190 jet. Rescuers took 49 people to hospitals, most with minor injuries.

The lack of a death toll recalls a 2008 crash landing by a British Airways Boeing 777 short of the runway at London’s Heathrow Airport. All 152 passengers and crew survived.

In 2013, only 2 of 302 passengers from an Asiana 777 died when the plane crashed on landing in San Francisco.

To70s safety review for 2017 indicated the year was the safest on record for airline passengers, with 13 lives lost in propeller-driven aircraft and no jets crashed in passenger service anywhere in the world.

Yesterday [Macau time], an Aeromexico jetliner taking off in a blustery storm smashed down into a nearby field but skidded to a stop virtually intact, and all 103 people aboard were able to escape advancing flames before fire engulfed the aircraft.

Passengers expressed gratitude to be alive, but many were extremely shaken after the crash.

“It was really, really ugly,” said Lorenzo Nunez, a passenger from Chicago who fled the plane with his two sons and wife. “It burned in a question of seconds,” he told reporters, snapping his fingers for emphasis.

Survivors said the Embraer 190 plane burst into flames right after it hit the ground.

“We felt the flames coming quickly […] there was a lot of smoke,” Jaquelin Flores told the newspaper El Sol.

After the accident, several passengers walked away from the plane before first responders arrived. Some sought medical help, while others rushed home to loved ones. MDT/AP