外媒：什么原因可能导致马航飞机失踪？

Traditionally regarded as one of the safest planes in the skies, the Boeing 777’s reputation will have been damaged by the second fatal crash in less than a year.

波音777机型一向被认为是空中客机中最安全的机型，但是在不到一年的时间里发生的两起坠机事故令它名声扫地。

There are around 1,000 Boeing 777s in service, and the plane is a long haul workhorse, plying some of the longest routes.

全球共有1000架波音777客机正在使用中。飞机是一个长距离运输的交通工具，担负着一些最长距离航行的任务。

It entered service in 1995 and the National Transportation Safety Board, which is responsible for monitoring US-made aircraft, has logged fewer than 60 incidents.

波音777在1995年投入使用，美国国家运输安全委员会负责监视美国制造的飞机，至今数据库中有的事故记录不超过60条。

But the recent record has been more patchy with two major incidents - a crash at San Francisco airport last July, which claimed three lives, and the crash-landing of a British Airways 777 at Heathrow in January 2008.

但是最近两起重大事故使得数据库的记录看起来很不和谐——去年7月份韩亚航空旧金山发生的坠机事故（造成三人死亡）和2008年1月份英国航空的波音777客机在希思罗机场的迫降事件。

But the Malaysian disaster is very different from both the BA incident and the crash involving a Asiana Airlines flight at San Francisco International Airport in July.

然而马来西亚这次的飞行事故，与英航事故和7月份在旧金山国际机场的韩亚航空坠机事故非常不同。

Both the BA and Asiana accidents occurred shortly before landing, while the Malaysia airlines plane disappeared off the radar during the early stages of the trip.

英航和韩亚航空的事故都是发生在着陆前的一小段时间里，而马航失事客机的信号在航行不久便在雷达探测仪上消失了。

The accident at San Francisco in July was attributed to pilot error which led to the engines being set to idle because he believed the computer would maintain sufficient speed to keep the plane up in the air.

7月份旧金山的事故是由于飞行员的失误导致了引擎怠速，因为他认为电脑会自动控制速度保持飞机飞行。

But initial reports suggest that Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the 53-year-old Malaysian airlines pilot, was hugely experienced - having joined the carrier in 1981 and with 18,365 hours in the cockpit under his belt.

但是初期报道显示，马航失事飞机机长，53岁马来西亚籍的机长查哈里亚沙阿经验丰富——他在1981年加入马航，飞行时长为18365小时。

The BA crash landing, which did not result in any fatalities, was finally found to have been caused by a blockage in the fuel line feeding the engine.

英航的迫降事故没有造成任何伤亡，最后发现事故是由于引擎的燃料管线堵塞而引起的。

Simply put the aircraft had the aviation equivalent of a cardiac arrest because some of the fuel failed to melt and blocked the supply line at the end of a long flight from Beijing to London, during which the plane travelled through unusually cold airspace over Siberia.

简单地从飞机制造角度来说，这起事故与心脏停搏的原理是相同的，因为在从北京飞往伦敦的长途航行过程中，飞机穿越了西伯利亚的冷空气层，于是经过长距离的航行之后部分燃料没能完全融化，燃料输送管线就被堵塞了。

This crash has echoes of the disaster in which 288 people on board an Air France Airbus 330 died. That plane, another long-haul workhorse, crashed into the Atlantic en-route from Rio de Janeiro in June 2009 killing 228 people.

这起事故与法国航空公司造成288人遇难的空客330解体事故很类似。法航失事飞机也是经过了远距离航行，2009年6月它从里约热内卢出发，在大西洋坠机，机上288名乘客和机组人员无一幸免于难。

A variety of explanations have been given for the Air France crash, with investigators finding that the plane’s speed sensors were giving an incorrect reading.

当时由于调查人员发现飞机的速度传感器失灵，关于法航坠机事故引发了各种原因的猜测。

But with this crash involving a different aircraft, it will take several months before investigators can ascertain the cause.

但马航此次的失事飞机与法航失事飞机不属于同一类机型，所以调查事故原因可能要花上好几个月。

The National Transportation Safety Board said it had sent a team to Asia to help the investigation, accompanied by technical advisers from Boeing and the US air safety regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration.

美国国家运输安全委员会表示已派出一个调查组前往亚洲，协助调查事故原因，随行的有波音公司的技术顾问和联邦航空管理局的航空安全监管人员。