In a time of instant access to information through the Internet, including social media, it’s understandable that the general public shows little patience while waiting for answers after an aviation tragedy. This was never more of an issue than in the immediate aftermath of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which vanished on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014. A year later, with still no answers, all we have is speculation.
It has long been the policy of Flight Safety Foundation that we do not engage in speculation following an aviation accident, and we kept to that policy last March. In the days following the disappearance of MH370, when we all still expected the wreckage to be located quickly, the nonstop speculation in the news media was troubling to aviation safety experts and an endless torment for the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew of the flight.
Last month, to our distress, we learned about AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ…
