Plane crash in Taiwan: 6 reasons why we are so lucky
Hearing opinions here and there regarding today’s tragedy in Taipei, many thoughts came to my head. At the end of the day, I could not help but rise some prayers for those people involved in the crash, while thanking for the fortunate mix of circumstances that kept us many more away of what could become a massive tragedy.
The ATR-72 plane accident seems small if we compare it to other recent headlines alike –such as the Malaysia Airlines, or the boat that recently sank in the Yangtze river in China—, however, the great calculation skills of the pilot, the immediate reaction from Taiwanese authorities, and the good-hearted actions taken by the people from Taiwan, were the main reason why this situation was kept under control.
1. Many lives were saved.
Preliminary reports indicate that the plane crashed down just a few minutes of its departure from SongShan Airport after one of the engines of the plane light up on fire. The pilot started asking for help while keeping the flight above the Keelung river, just in case. Taipei, which airport is in the middle of the city — unlike those many other airports in the middle of nowhere- makes it hard to handle when it comes to land. Even so, the pilot managed to keep flying away from buildings, and only hit a highway, saving many with his heroic action. One building down would meant a lot of human losses.
2. Nuclear plants are on the map.
Up to the north, around Kuoshen, Jingshan and Lungmen there are three nuclear plants. One miscalculation, would turn Taiwan in the sequel of Fukushima changing the life of those 23 million people that live in this beautiful island. The natural impact would affect everyone around, including China, (Taiwan’s frienemy), Japan and many other islands.
3. The company will respond
Even though a life cannot be replaced with anything, the many reports, pictures, posts and comments flowing everywhere over the internet are making a difference. TransAsia, the company involved, is still facing another accident that hit the company few months ago. This second mistake is going to push things further assuring the welfare of the unfortunate passengers and their families.
4. Quick reaction
Solidarity and unity are two of the many qualities I admire from Taiwanese people. The plane crashed down, and even before the ambulances arrived to the place, many voluntaries were already taking off shirts and shoes in order to jump into the water and help those in need. Moreover, in order to stand up for those anonymous heroes, many others more came along and fed them for free. The numbers were not good: more than 30 deaths, 26 hurt and 18 missing people got to the hearts of the Taiwanese population and even us foreigners living here.
5. Hope everywhere
Besides of the Taiwanese helping each other warming up with hope the cold waters of the river, there were two facts that moved us to tears: The little fellow who was revived by his father after being under water for 2 minutes, and the lucky taxi driver whose car was smashed by the plane that got injured but survived with glasses all over his face but no broken bones.
6. An important life lesson
Although we know there are no words to comfort those involved in this kind of circumstances, and all we can do is pray and give our support in any way that we can, we can learn from this exemplar behavior and spread hope everywhere, anywhere.
There is always light at the end of the tunnel, and even though it is sad to believe that we can only be human to each other under these sort of unfortunate events, every good action still restores my faith in humanity.
Now this is an open wound that hurt us all, but that at the same time taught us how to heal in unity.
My prayers are with all the people and families of those involved in this event.
