科比的去世让人们关注直升机的安全

科比的去世让人们关注直升机的安全

For the vast majority of Americans, helicopters are hardly a routine form of transportation. But a high-profile helicopter disaster — like the crash in Calabasas, Calif., that killed Kobe Bryant and eight other people on Sunday — can draw widespread attention to helicopter safety.

对于绝大多数美国人来说，直升机几乎不是一种常规的交通工具。但是，一场备受瞩目的直升机灾难——比如周日发生在加州卡拉巴萨斯、导致科比·布莱恩特和另外八人丧生的坠机事故——可以让人们广泛关注直升机的安全性。

Helicopter rides are significantly riskier than commercial airline flights, but not as dangerous as a trip on a personal plane. And some trips — like personal or private helicopter rides — are far more likely than others to end in a fatal accident.

乘坐直升机的风险比乘坐商业航班大得多，但没有乘坐私人飞机那么危险。有些旅行——比如个人或私人直升机旅行——比其他旅行更有可能发生致命事故。

"I think it is natural to the public, whenever an accident happens, to start to question the overall safety of a certain type of flying," says Anthony Brickhouse, a professor of aerospace and occupational safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. "I would just caution people to be patient and to let the investigation play out so that we can figure out what happened."

“我认为，对公众来说，每当发生事故时，就会开始质疑某种飞行的整体安全性，这是很自然的，”安柏瑞德航空大学航空航天与职业安全教授安东尼•布里克豪斯表示。“我只是提醒人们要有耐心，让调查进行下去，这样我们才能弄清楚到底发生了什么。”

Commercial plane travel is extremely safe, despite recent catastrophes like the Boeing 737 Max crashes; in many years the fatal accident rate in the U.S. is zero. Helicopters are more dangerous, according to data from the federal government, with a fatal accident rate of 0.72 per 100.000 flight hours in 2018.

商用飞机旅行是极其安全的，尽管最近发生了波音737 MAX坠机等灾难;多年来，美国的致命事故率为零。根据联邦政府的数据，直升机更危险，2018年每10万飞行小时的致命事故率为0.72.

But general aviation — like recreational flying — is even more dangerous than that, with a fatal accident rate of more than 1 accident per 100.000 flight hours in 2018.

但通用航空-就像娱乐飞行一样-甚至比这更危险，2018年每10万个飞行小时的致命事故率超过1起。

In general, helicopters today are safer than they used to be: Over the past two decades, the fatal accident rate has dropped by half, according to the United States Helicopter Safety Team, or USHST, an alliance of government and industry representatives.

总体而言，今天的直升机比过去更安全：根据由政府和行业代表组成的联盟美国直升机安全小组(简称USHST)的数据，在过去20年里，致命事故率下降了一半。

But the past few years have seen mixed results. The fatal accident rate rose in 2017 and 2018 before dropping slightly last year.

但过去几年的结果喜忧参半。2017年和2018年的致命事故率有所上升，去年略有下降。

Some helicopter rides are far riskier than others. In the U.S., sightseeing tours, police and news trips, and aerial observation flights tend to be safer than other flights, the USHST says. Corporate flights and "air taxi" flights are in the middle of the pack.

有些乘坐直升机的风险要比其他的高得多。USHST说，在美国，观光旅游、警察和新闻旅行以及空中观察飞行往往比其他航班更安全。公司航班和“空中出租车”航班位居中间。

And personal or private helicopter flights are responsible for a disproportionate number of fatal helicopter accidents. Personal or private rides account for just 3% of flight hours but more than a quarter of fatal accidents.

个人或私人直升机飞行造成了不成比例的直升机致命事故。个人或私人交通工具只占飞行时间的3%，但致命事故的四分之一以上。

To make helicopter flights safer, the USHST urges changes in training and technology. It also urges pilots to avoid flying too low.

为了使直升机飞行更安全，USHST敦促在培训和技术上做出改变。它还敦促飞行员避免飞得太低。

The group also highlights the risk of "get-there-itis," when pilots are so determined to arrive at a destination that they ignore signs of risk. In some cases a powerful passenger can also put pressure on a pilot to complete a trip in unsafe conditions, pilots say.

该组织还强调了“到达目的地”的风险，即飞行员决心到达目的地，以至于忽视了风险迹象。飞行员说，在某些情况下，强大的乘客还会向飞行员施加压力，让他在不安全的条件下完成一次旅行。