Praying part of airlines’ emergency SOP, say aviation experts
Usually, those who question the necessity for prayers are people with no religion, says former RMAF investigating officer.
They said the move by the AirAsia X D7237 pilot to ask the 359 people on board to pray after the Airbus A330-300 experienced engine trouble was not wrong.
In fact, they said, it was part of pilots’ practice to calm passengers and ensure control over the situation.
Former Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) investigating officer Capt Abdul Rahmat Omar Mohd Haniff said praying during flights was nothing unusual.
In fact, he noted, many airline companies including British Airways (haj and umrah chartered flights) would switch on a video recording of the “doa musafir” (Muslim travellers’ prayer) before take-off.
“Usually, those who question the necessity for ‘doa’ (prayer) are people with no religion,” he said.
Rahmat was commenting on the Kuala Lumpur-bound flight from Perth which was forced to turn back 90 minutes into the journey after the aircraft encountered technical difficulties over the airspace near Carnarvon on the western Australia coast.
The pilot was criticised by former minister and DAP member Zaid Ibrahim for asking the passengers to pray for their safety.
On the technical problem encountered by the plane, Rahmat said an Airbus A330 could take off, cruise and land with just one engine even if the other engine was shut down.
“In the case of AirAsia X’s flight D7237, one of the turbine’s blades broke and hit the oil pump, damaging the hydraulic system before being ‘swallowed’ by the engine.
“Any other damage to the engine is not known.
“The unbalanced propeller blades caused severe vibration to the aircraft frame and the next action was for the pilot to turn the engine off and turn back.
“However, although the intensity of the vibration slightly decreased in the next two hours, the ‘windmill effect’ persisted because the propeller blades were being powered by the wind as the aircraft moved forward,” he said.
Rahmat said because of imbalance, another phenomenon known as dynamic spillage would form an air cone in front of the engine against the air that was pushed backwards by the thrust.
He said such a situation might cause “mounting bolt fatigue” that could detach the engine, in which case the imbalance could be catastrophic.
“The pilot was fully aware of this and told the passengers that the situation in the flight deck was under control but that they could also pray for safety,” he said.
Another aviation expert who preferred to remain anonymous said pilots had been trained and would do the needful to assure and calm passengers in any kind of situation.
“If not handled properly, the situation would deteriorate on landing or during the emergency evacuation at the airport.
“In cases such as this, every airline has a standard operating procedure to maintain calm in the cockpit, among the passengers and so on. Praying is one of the steps,” he added.
Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) test pilot prof Mohd Harridon Mohamed Suffian said not all scenarios could be trained for in flight simulators or real planes as each situation was unique, adding that praying was among the options for any pilot.
“In dealing with an ordeal that the pilot had not undergone during training or simulation, mental preparation is necessary, including praying.
“In fact from the psychology aspect, praying will provide mental preparation for us.
“In the aspect of religion, we are indeed called to rely on God as anything could happen in a situation,” he told Bernama.
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