什麼原因可能導致馬航飛機失蹤

Traditionally regarded as one of the safest planes in the skies, the Boeing 777’s reputation will have been damaged by the second fatal crash in less than a year.

波音777機型一向被認爲是空中客機中最安全的機型，但是在不到一年的時間裏發生的兩起墜機事故令它名聲掃地。

There are around 1,000 Boeing 777s in service, and the plane is a long haul workhorse, plying some of the longest routes.

全球共有1000架波音777客機正在使用中。飛機是一個長距離運輸的交通工具，擔負着一些最長距離航行的任務。

It entered service in 1995 and the National Transportation Safety Board, which is responsible for monitoring US-made aircraft, has logged fewer than 60 incidents.

波音777在1995年投入使用，美國國家運輸安全委員會負責監視美國製造的飛機，至今數據庫中有的事故記錄不超過60條。

But the recent record has been more patchy with two major incidents - a crash at San Francisco airport last July, which claimed three lives, and the crash-landing of a British Airways 777 at Heathrow in January 2008.

但是最近兩起重大事故使得數據庫的記錄看起來很不和諧——去年7月份韓亞航空舊金山發生的墜機事故（造成三人死亡）和2008年1月份英國航空的波音777客機在希思羅機場的迫降事件。

But the Malaysian disaster is very different from both the BA incident and the crash involving a Asiana Airlines flight at San Francisco International Airport in July.

然而馬來西亞這次的飛行事故，與英航事故和7月份在舊金山國際機場的韓亞航空墜機事故非常不同。

Both the BA and Asiana accidents occurred shortly before landing, while the Malaysia airlines plane disappeared off the radar during the early stages of the trip.

英航和韓亞航空的事故都是發生在着陸前的一小段時間裏，而馬航失事客機的信號在航行不久便在雷達探測儀上消失了。

The accident at San Francisco in July was attributed to pilot error which led to the engines being set to idle because he believed the computer would maintain sufficient speed to keep the plane up in the air.

7月份舊金山的事故是由於飛行員的失誤導致了引擎怠速，因爲他認爲電腦會自動控制速度保持飛機飛行。

But initial reports suggest that Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the 53-year-old Malaysian airlines pilot, was hugely experienced - having joined the carrier in 1981 and with 18,365 hours in the cockpit under his belt.

但是初期報道顯示，馬航失事飛機機長，53歲馬來西亞籍的機長查哈里亞沙阿經驗豐富——他在1981年就進入飛行員這一行，有着18365個小時的飛行經驗。

The BA crash landing, which did not result in any fatalities, was finally found to have been caused by a blockage in the fuel line feeding the engine.

英航的迫降事故沒有造成任何傷亡，最後發現事故是由於引擎的燃料管線堵塞而引起的。

Simply put the aircraft had the aviation equivalent of a cardiac arrest because some of the fuel failed to melt and blocked the supply line at the end of a long flight from Beijing to London, during which the plane travelled through unusually cold airspace over Siberia.

簡單地從飛機制造角度來說，這起事故與心臟停搏的原理是相同的，因爲在從北京飛往倫敦的長途航行過程中，飛機穿越了西伯利亞的冷空氣層，於是經過長距離的航行之後部分燃料沒能完全融化，燃料輸送管線就被堵塞了。

This crash has echoes of the disaster in which 288 people on board an Air France Airbus 330 died. That plane, another long-haul workhorse, crashed into the Atlantic en-route from Rio de Janeiro in June 2009 killing 228 people.

這起事故與法國航空公司造成288人遇難的空客330解體事故很類似。法航失事飛機也是經過了遠距離航行，2009年6月它從里約熱內盧出發，在大西洋墜機，機上288名乘客和機組人員無一倖免於難。

A variety of explanations have been given for the Air France crash, with investigators finding that the plane’s speed sensors were giving an incorrect reading.

由於調查人員發現飛機的速度傳感器失靈，關於法航墜機事故引發了各種原因的猜測。

But with this crash involving a different aircraft, it will take several months before investigators can ascertain the cause.

但馬航此次的失事飛機與法航失事飛機不屬於同一類機型，所以調查事故原因可能要花上好幾個月。

The National Transportation Safety Board said it had sent a team to Asia to help the investigation, accompanied by technical advisers from Boeing and the US air safety regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration.

美國國家運輸安全委員會表示已派出一個調查組前往亞洲，協助調查事故原因，隨行的有波音公司的技術顧問和聯邦航空管理局的航空安全監管人員。