万花筒 2011-04-04&04-06 美客机机身破裂紧急迫降

 The emergency landing a Southwest flight in Yuma, Arizona after a gaping¹ hole opened in the fuselage of the Boeing 747 while craft was at cruising altitude. You can imagine the horror the folks flying from Phoenix² to Sacramento is, cabin pressure dropped, air mask deployed³ and the plane plunged⁴ 25,000 feet, one passenger even texted a goodbye to his wife. With all the details, here's Lisa Stark⁵.

 

There was no hiding the joy tonight as passengers from Southwest flight 812 finally made it to their destination. Made it to Sacramento, California, hugs, kisses, tears, relatives overjoyed at seeing their loved ones. Ashley Man couldn't contained herself, she'd been waiting for hours for her boyfriend ever since receiving a frightening text message. 

 

He sent me a text when he was on the ground, and told me that there was a hole blowing out in the ceiling at the plane, and that he was alright, he did assure me that, but you know, I still don't believe him.

 

The harrowing day began more than 6 hours earlier, the Southwest flight, a Boeing 747 had taken off from Phoenix around 3:45pm local time, 118 passengers on board. Flight attendants had just taken drink orders when passengers reported hearing something unusual, loud pops, several minutes later, the roof opened up, astonished passenger saw a gaping hole perhaps 3-5 feet long and a foot wide right next to the luggage compartment⁶. Aviation sources provided ABC News with these photos of the damage. The plane suffered a rapid decompression. 

 

The top of the plane was ripped off and all of sudden, mask came down and it was pretty frightening.

 

The Southwest pilots radioed air traffic control, they declared an emergency and began a rapid descent, quickly diving to a lower altitude, so passengers would be able to breathe on their own. The jet plunged from 36,000 feet to 19,000 feet in just 1 minute, within 5 minutes, it had reached the safer altitude of 11,000 feet.But some terrified passengers clearly thought this was the end. Pilots though are trained for just such an emergency, and they landed the plane safely at the marine⁷ corp air station in Yuma, Arizona. 

 

We are taught to turn of course to bring the engines to idled pull out speed abrasion⁸ come down at the maximum rate,that's safe, to get everybody down below 14,000 feet within 4 minutes, that's a requirement. 

 

Passengers thankful to be on the ground called their loved ones, and waited for a new Southwest jet to pick them up and take them on their way. Meantime, investigators⁹ from Boeing, the FAA, Southwest, and the NTSP are descending¹⁰ on Arizona to get a first time look at the damage.

 

The biggest concern here is what in the world could have caused this, because first of all, this aircraft is not that old, secondly¹¹ this is many many years after the things we learned in the 1980s about corrosion¹² control and control of the structure of aging airplanes, and thirdly this is an aircraft that's maintained by one of our most outstanding airlines in terms of maintenance in the country, so you put all those together, and there is no precedent¹³.

 

The jet was built in 1996, it's 15 years old, not ancient by aviation standards, but Southwest planes get a big workout, they do many takeoffs and landings a day. That puts stress on the metal fuselage. Two years ago, a hole opened up in the fuselage of another Southwest airplane, a jet also 15 years old. Investigators blamed fatigue¹⁴ cracks, and Boeing ordered extra inspections¹⁵ for its 747s. It was back in 1988 that aviation officials first realize that age could take a toll¹⁶ on the plane skin after the roof peeled back on an Aloha flight, one flight attendant was killed, but for tonight there was simple thankfulness that no one was seriously hurt, that everyone got home safely. 

1 gaping   

adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• Ahead of them was a gaping abyss. 他们前面是一个巨大的深渊。
• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

3 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

4 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

5 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

6 compartment   

n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间

参考例句：

• We were glad to have the whole compartment to ourselves.真高兴，整个客车隔间由我们独享。
• The batteries are safely enclosed in a watertight compartment.电池被安全地置于一个防水的隔间里。

7 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 abrasion   

n.磨（擦）破，表面磨损

参考例句：

• Diamonds have extreme resistance to abrasion.钻石极抗磨损。
• This analysis is helpful to the research of derailment and abrasion machenism.该分析有助于脱轨和磨耗机理的探讨。

9 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

11 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

12 corrosion   

n.腐蚀，侵蚀；渐渐毁坏，渐衰

参考例句：

• Corrosion is not covered by the warranty.腐蚀不在保修范围之内。
• Zinc is used to protect other metals from corrosion.锌被用来保护其他金属不受腐蚀。

13 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

14 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

15 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。