Other Views

Better coordination on flights

2014 marks the 100th anniversary of manned flight, but it has also been a dark year. With the MH370 and MH17 tragedies and other air mishaps, and now QZ8501, more than 900 lives will have been lost within one year, higher than the past decade's average. All highlight the urgency of improving flight-tracking technology.

Ming Pao, Dec 29

The QZ8501 incident is doubtlessly a heavy blow to AirAsia, perhaps even to the whole budget airline industry. But similar challenges have emerged alongside the birth of budget airlines; yet for the past decade, budget airlines have kept a safety record that is as good as more expensive airlines. The business model is growing toward prosperity instead of withering.

thepaper.cn, Dec 28

There has been much speculation about what caused QZ8501 to disappear from radar screens. While some have pointed out the possibility of terrorists, others have emphasized weather conditions: Chen Qinghao from the National Metrological Center said there was heavy cloud in that area on Sunday morning, and if the flight passed through the cloud, the air currents, lightning even hailstones might cause it to crash.

Wen Wei Pao, Dec 29

Several nations are conducting search and rescue operations in the seas where the plane might have gone down. The lessons of past tragedies need to be heeded, namely political disagreements and complicated bureaucratic procedures curbing the efforts of rescuers. Please give up selfish political interests and bureaucracy for the moment to save lives.

Changsha Evening News, Dec 29

Southeast Asia is the fastest growing market for civil aviation, but insufficient resources and poor management have become bottlenecks for its development. The causes are still unknown, but the fact that two flights lost contact within one year should serve as a warning. Instead of blind expansion, stricter security measures and more intimate coordination among different nations are needed.

Beijing News, Dec 29