Air Crash Investigation 8 | 空中浩劫 8

by Marcus Maurice

Planes are one of the safest modes of transportation, but what happens when one goes down?

In 1983, the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in the Cold War when a dramatic event that nearly started World War III took place. On August 30, Korean Air Lines flight 007 (KAL 007), a Boeing 747 with 269 people on board, was en route to Seoul, Korea from New York City. After a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska, KAL 007 went off course. Nearly five hours later, it disappeared and was never heard from again.

At first, the Soviets denied any knowledge of what caused KAL 007 to crash, but within a few days, they admitted to shooting down the passenger plane because it had violated Russian airspace. Ronald Reagan, the US president at the time, said that this was cold-blooded murder and called it the "Korean airline massacre." Tensions were so high between the US and the Soviet Union that two months later when the US was conducting war games with its European allies, the Soviets were on red alert as they thought a nuclear attack on their country was imminent.

In another unfortunate air incident, Northwest Airlines flight 255 was taxiing out when air traffic controllers gave the pilots a last-minute runway change. Eager to make up for lost time because the flight was already 45 minutes behind schedule, the pilots located the entrance and started speeding down the runway. The plane barely managed to get off the ground before it ran into a light pole, causing it to slam into a building and finally disintegrate on a highway. This month, National Geographic Channel finds out what happened with KAL 007 as well as Northwest Airlines flight 255 in its series, Air Crash Investigation 8.

1.  What happened as a result of the downing of KAL 007?

(A) Tensions between the Cold War adversaries became quite high.

(B) Europeans wanted to attack the Soviet Union with a nuclear bomb.

(C) Relations between the US and the Soviet Union became closer.

(D) World War III broke out two months after the incident.

2.  What caused Northwest Airlines flight 255 to crash?

(A) The taxi ride the pilots took made them sick.

(B) The flight was running late, so the pilots tried to rush everything.

(C) There was another plane landing on the same runway in 45 minutes.

(D) A new building was constructed at the end of the runway.

3.  What is the difference between the two plane crashes in the article?

(A) One was in the Soviet Union, and the other was in Korea.

(B) One was done by the US military, and the other was done by the Soviet military.

(C) One of the planes was shot down, while the other was caused by human error.

(D) One was solved, but the other one was not.

   1983 年美国和苏联正处于冷战时期，而一起戏剧化的事件几乎酿成第三次世界大战。8 月 30 日一架波音 747 的大韩航空 007班机，搭载 269 人从纽约飞往韩国首尔。停在阿拉斯加的安克拉治加油后，飞机便偏离了航线。将近 5 个小时后，这架 007 班机消失无踪，从此下落不明。

　　起初，苏联否认知情造成 007 班机坠毁的原因，但在几天后，他们承认击落这架客机，原因是它侵犯了苏联领空。当时的美国总统里根指责这是个冷血的谋杀，并称之为『韩国航空大屠杀』。美苏之间的紧张情势升高，两个月后，美国与欧洲盟国共同举行军事演习时，苏联因为认为可能遭受核弹攻击而进入高度警戒状态。

　　在另一起不幸的航空意外中，西北航空 255 号班机在往外滑行时，航管人员在最后一刻给了机师变更跑道的指示。由于班机已经误点 45 分钟，为了弥补耗费的时间，机师找到跑道入口后便开始加速起飞。飞机没来得及拉高离开地面前便撞上灯杆，接着冲进一栋建筑物，最后在公路上解体。这个月，国家地理频道的《空中浩劫 8》系列节目将带你了解大韩航空 007 班机和西北航空 255 号班机这两起空中灾难。

答案：1. (A)2. (B)3. (C)

For Your Information

大韩航空 007 班机误入苏联领空的原因，有可能是因为正副机师操作错误，导致飞机偏移预定的航线，但争议的是民航机的灯号很容易辨识，苏联却没有发现而将其击落。除此原因外，还有一造说法为机长为帮航空公司节省燃料费用，故改道偏北飞行，但仍未被证实。（数据源：维基百科）