Smoke in the cockpit

The Boeing 747-400 plane that crashed near Dubai airport on September 3rd may have landed safely if the aircraft had been equipped with emergency vision technology. Vision safety equipment is installed on approximately 1,500 airplanes, including aircraft flown by high-ranking government officials, on executive business jets; however, it is only found on a few commercial airline fleets.

Preliminary reports and witness accounts from pilots in the area who listened to the crisis unfold via radio, indicate that there was smoke in the cockpit and the pilots could not see their instruments. The pilots were overheard to be "flying blind" before attempting to land, relying on information about speed, altitude and direction from air traffic controllers. The airplane eventually crashed killing both crew members.

The fire on board the 747-400 on September 3rd was not unusual. The former head of the FAA's Flight Standards authored a study in 2002, which stated that fire events occur on average in one out of every 5,000 flights. Another study by the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) has indicated that in North America alone there are on average up to three smoke incidents per day, resulting in an average of one unscheduled or emergency landing per day.