 | ■ International
Searching for answers
尋找解答
Plane crash kills 150 people in French Alps; 'black box' found
一百五十人死於法國阿爾卑斯山區一起空難，而失事班機「黑盒子」已尋獲 |
| A "black box" recovered from the scene of the debris-scattered Alpine mountainsides holds clues to what caused a German jetliner to take an unexplained eight-minute dive on March 24 midway through a flight from Spain to Germany, apparently killing all 150 people on board. The victims included two babies, two opera singers and 16 German high school students and their teachers returning from an exchange trip to Spain. It was the deadliest crash in France in decades. | 一架三月廿四日由西班牙飛往德國的噴射客機在飛行途中急速下降八分鐘，墜毀於法國南部阿爾卑斯山區，造成機上一百五十名人士全數罹難，而該班機的「黑盒子」已在滿佈機身殘骸的失事地點尋獲。受難者包括兩名嬰兒、兩名歌劇演唱家，以及在西班牙完成交換課程後返國的十六名德國高中學生和老師等。這是數十年來發生於法國最嚴重的空難事故。 |
| The Airbus A320 operated by Germanwings, a budget subsidiary of Lufthansa, was less than an hour from landing in Duesseldorf on a flight from Barcelona when it unexpectedly went into a rapid descent. The pilots sent out no distress call and had lost radio contact with their control center, France's aviation authority said, deepening the mystery. The White House and the airline chief said there was no sign that terrorism was involved, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged reporters not to speculate on the cause. While investigators searched through debris from Flight 4U9525 on steep and desolate slopes, families across Europe reeled with shock and grief. | 廉航「日耳曼之翼」為德國漢莎航空旗下子公司，而該航空這架空中巴士 A320 型客機在從巴塞隆納起飛後，只差不到一個小時的時間就能抵達目的地杜塞道夫，卻出乎意料在半途急墜。法國民航局表示，該機機師並未發出求救訊號，與塔台的無線電聯繫也中斷，失事原因撲朔迷離。美國白宮及該航空公司高層表示，並沒有跡象顯示該事故與恐怖攻擊有所牽涉，而德國總理梅克爾則強烈要求記者不要多加揣測事故原因。當調查人員在陡峭荒蕪的山區搜尋 4U9525 班機殘骸的同時，受難者家屬也陷入一片震驚與哀痛之中。 |
| It took investigators hours to reach the site. They faced a long and difficult search-and-recovery operation because of the area's remoteness. The weather, which had been clear earlier, deteriorated on the afternoon of March 24, with a chilly rain falling. French Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said the crash site covered several acres, with thousands of pieces of debris, "which leads us to think the impact must have been extremely violent at very high speed." Search operations were suspended overnight and resumed at daybreak. | 調查人員花費數小時的時間才抵達失事地點。因為該地區位處偏遠，救援任務相當耗時且艱難。原本晴朗的天氣在三月廿四日中午過後開始惡化，當地還下起了冷冽的雨。法國內政部發言人布洪戴表示，由於空難地點涵蓋面積廣泛，遍佈數千片殘骸，因此「我們認為飛機在高速飛行時的撞擊力道一定十分猛烈」。搜救行動在晚間停止，並將於隔日清晨重啟。 |
| The plane left Barcelona Airport at 10:01 a.m. and had reached its cruising height of 11,580 meters when it suddenly went into an eight-minute descent to just over 1,828 meters, Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann said. About 30 minutes later, the plane lost radio contact with the control center but "never declared a distress alert," Eric Heraud of the French Civil Aviation Authority said. The plane crashed at an altitude of about 2,000 meters at Meolans-Revels, near the popular ski resort of Pra Loup. | 日耳曼之翼總經理溫克曼表示，該班機於當日早上十點○一分從巴塞隆納機場起飛，在上升至航行高度一萬一千五百八十公尺後，突然在八分鐘內急速下降至一千八百廿八公尺。法國民航局官員黑拉德表示，該班機起飛卅分鐘後與控制塔台的無線電聯繫中斷，但「完全沒有發出求救訊號」。這架班機是在知名滑雪勝地普拉魯普附近、高度約兩千公尺的梅奧朗勒韋墜毀。 |
| Winkelmann said the pilot had more than 10 years' experience working for Germanwings and its parent airline Lufthansa. The aircraft was delivered to Lufthansa in 1991, had approximately 58,300 flight hours in some 46,700 flights, Airbus said. The plane underwent a routine check in Duesseldorf on March 23, and its last regular full check took place in the summer of 2013. | 溫克曼表示，該機機師在日耳曼之翼及母公司漢莎航空有超過十年的飛航經驗。空中巴士公司表示，該班機是在一九九一年移交漢莎航空公司，且在四萬六千七百次航班中累積約五萬八千三百小時的飛航時數。這架飛機已在三月廿三日於杜塞道夫進行例行維修，而上一次的例行性整體檢修則是在二○一三年夏天。 |
沒有留言:
張貼留言