Originally posted by Ron Vutpakdi:
"The old plane and poor maintenance problems happen here in the US too. The Hawaiian (or was it Aloha Airlines?) 737 whose roof peeled back in flight and the Alaskan Airlines DC-9 that went down a few years back come to mind."
Mr. Vutpakdi,
I'll buy the 'old plane' part of that statement but not the entire 'poor maintenance' portion. There's a great difference between not knowing that 737s with so X-amount of airtime should have their cabins inspected earlier and more often than originally thought and simply not doing the required inspections and maintenance. The same thing occurred with the Alaskan Airlines DC-9 tailscrew; it was learned that a bore-scope inspection of the screw wasn't enough to catch certain kinds of wear and that a more complete physical inspection was required.
The Aloha Airlines and Alaskan Airlines planes had both been maintained in what was then believed to be a proper and safe manner. Those maintenance procedures were changed after the incidents proved they were not rigorous enough. Having worked and travelled in the 3rd World for some time, I'll lay you a dollar to a doughnut hole that the Congolese Ilyushin(?) hadn't seen any real; i.e. Western, maintenance in years.
There's a reason why 3rd World bus crashes kill hundreds and ferry sinkings kill thousands; proper maintenance and the skills to perform it do not come cheap and the only thing to be had cheaply in the 3rd World is human life.
"On the other hand, you get decades old flying machines that are reasonably well maintained and do okay: most of the US's warplanes are at least a decade old at this point. The best examples in the US Air Force are the B-52's."
Precisely. If you can afford to maintain it, an aircraft (or starship) can last a good long while. Fail to maintain it properly and watch the accident rate spiral upward. Also, you can do everything right and still have an unforeseen problem drop your ship out of orbit. IIRC, there was an old JTAS adventure that revolved around the fact that the plastics used in the cushion on a pilot's seat gave of poisonous fumes when burned. (Something that the FAA has known about for years, most passengers in crashes die of smoke inhalation and not blunt force trauma.)
Sincerely,
Larsen