Experts say some airliner crashes more survivable

BRUSSELS — Aviation experts say some recent airline accidents with few or no fatalities show that the chances of surviving crashes are better than ever.

They say fuselages are stronger, fire-retardant technology has been improved and plane crews are better trained to deal with disaster.

"Clearly, this is not just a matter of luck," William Voss, a former Federal Aviation Administration official who is president of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va., said Wednesday after most passengers and crew survived a jetliner crash in the Netherlands.

Many accidents don't have such outcomes, of course. Just two weeks ago, a commuter airliner crashed while trying to land in Buffalo, N.Y., killing all 49 people on the plane and a man on the ground.

Experts say most survivable accidents occur at or near airports, generally when a problem occurs during take-off or landing, but when pilots are able to maintain control, maneuvering to soften the final impact.

On Wednesday, a Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 slammed into a muddy field just two miles from the runway at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. Most of the 134 people on board survived, with nine people killed. More than 50 suffered injuries.

The 7-year-old airliner is part of Boeing's 737 family of jets, which first entered service 40 years ago. But the 737 has been extensively re-engineered and redesigned since its introduction, and the current version bears little resemblance to the 1960s-era original.

In the case of Flight TK1951, the fuselage broke into three large pieces, cracking along stress lines just ahead of the wings' leading edges and in front of the tail unit.

It was the latest in a series of accidents the past five years that produced surprisingly few fatalities:

— An Air France Airbus 340 crash-landed at the Toronto airport in 2005. The aircraft was destroyed in the hard landing and ensuing fire, but all passengers and crew escaped unharmed.

— A British Airways Boeing 777 landed just short of the runway at London's Heathrow Airport on Jan. 17, 2008, after losing power on the final approach. The airframe was destroyed, but no one died.

— A Continental Airlines Boeing 737-500 veered off a runway Dec. 20 and slid into a snowy field at the Denver airport, injuring 38 people but causing no fatalities.