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Investigators are studying what went wrong when a Japanese coast guard aircraft and a passenger jet crashed into each other on Tuesday at Haneda Airport in Tokyo.
周二，一架日本海上保安廳飛機和一架客機在東京羽田機場相撞，調查人員正在調查事故原因。
Officials want to find out what caused the crash.
官員們希望找出兩架飛機相撞的原因。
But there are also many questions about the fire that broke out when the planes collided on the runway.
但關于兩架飛機在跑道上相撞時引發的火災也存在許多疑問。
The body of the passenger jet, an Airbus 350, was made of carbon-composite fibers.
空中客車350客機的機身是由碳復合纖維材料制成的。
Passenger aircraft bodies have traditionally been made of aluminum.
傳統上，客機的機身都是由鋁制成的。
The crash may become an important test of the safety of composite materials for some uses in aircraft.
這起飛機相撞事故可能會成為對飛機上有某些用途的復合材料安全性的重要考驗。
Communications from air traffic control at the airport describe some of the events leading to the crash.
機場空中交通管制中心的通訊內容描述了導致該事故的一些事件。
The larger Japan Airlines (JAL) passenger jet was given permission to use the runway where the coast guard plane, a Bombardier Dash-8, was preparing for takeoff.
事故中的日本航空公司的大型客機獲準使用海上保安廳飛機龐巴迪Dash-8準備起飛的跑道。
When they struck each other, an orange fireball exploded from the aircraft and the passenger jet continued down the runway covered in flames.
當它們相撞時，飛機上突然爆出一團橙色的火球，客機在火焰中繼續沿著跑道行駛。
When the plane stopped, crew members and all 379 passengers slid down emergency chutes within 20 minutes. All survived.
當飛機停下來時，機組人員和所有379名乘客在20分鐘內從緊急滑梯上滑下來。機上人員都幸存。
The captain of the coast guard plane got out, but five members of the crew died in the crash.
海上保安廳飛機的機長逃了出來，但五名機組人員在事故中喪生。
Safety experts are praising the airline's crew and the passengers for escaping the burning plane.
安全專家贊揚了從著火的飛機上成功逃生的該航空公司的機組人員和乘客。
The crew shouted, warning the passengers to run away from the plane.
機組人員大聲警告乘客逃離飛機。
Composite materials have been used for many years inside commercial aircraft.
復合材料已經在商用飛機上使用了多年。
But the first commercial plane to have its body, or fuselage, and wings reinforced with carbon fibers was the Boeing 787.
但第一架用碳纖維材料加固機身和機翼的商用飛機是波音787。
It went into service in 2011.
它于2011年投入使用。
About 1,100 of the planes have been produced.
已經生產了大約1100架此類飛機。
The Airbus A350 followed in 2018.
隨后空中客車A350在2018年也開始使用碳纖維材料。
About 570 have been sold.
目前已售出約570架。
Aircraft designers use composite materials because they strengthen plastics and other materials.
飛機設計師之所以使用復合材料，是因為它們可以增強塑料和其他材料的強度。
Boeing says the material can save 20 percent of the weight of aluminum.
波音公司表示，這種材料可以節省20%的鋁重量。
The reduced weight saves fuel.
減輕的重量節省了燃料。
Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) tested the strength of composites to get certification for the 787 jet.
波音公司和美國聯邦航空管理局測試了復合材料的強度，以使波音787獲得認證。
But concerns remain about gases released from such materials when they burn.
但人們仍然擔心這類材料在燃燒時會釋放出氣體。
John Goglia is a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates aircraft accidents.
約翰·戈利亞是美國國家運輸安全委員會的前成員，該委員會負責調查飛機事故。
He said, "There has always been a concern about composites if they catch fire."
他說：“人們一直擔心復合材料會著火?！?/p>
Goglia noted that the gases released when composites burn are dangerous.
戈利亞指出，復合材料燃燒時釋放的氣體是危險的。
They can even be dangerous after the fire is put out because the fibers might remain in the air.
它們甚至在火被撲滅后也是危險的，因為纖維可能會留在空氣中。
The FAA has said for more than 20 years that there are dangers related to composite materials.
20多年來，美國聯邦航空局一直表示，復合材料存在危險。
FAA officials say the main health dangers include sharp pieces of material, dust and poisonous gases caused by burning substances that hold the material together.
美國聯邦航空局官員表示，主要的健康危險包括尖銳的材料碎片、灰塵和將材料組裝在一起的物質燃燒后產生的有毒氣體。
Although the inside of the passenger plane filled with smoke after the explosion, all 379 passengers were able to escape.
雖然爆炸后客機內部濃煙滾滾，但所有379名乘客全部逃生。
John Cox, a safety expert, noted: "That fuselage protected them from a really horrific fire — it did not burn through for some period of time and let everybody get out."
安全專家約翰·考克斯指出：“飛機的機身保護他們免受了一場可怕的大火的傷害，它在一段時間內沒有被燒透，從而讓所有人都逃了出來?！?/p>
Goglia said there is no real evidence whether composite materials or aluminum are better at resisting fire long enough to protect people.
戈利亞說，目前還沒有真正的證據證明復合材料和鋁材料中哪一種材料的防火性能更好，更能保護人們。
However, one passenger on the JAL flight said the smoke "stung" very much.
然而，該日航航班上的一名乘客表示，濃煙非?！按瘫恰薄?/p>
Todd Curtis, a safety expert and former Boeing engineer, warned that injuries from dangerous smoke could take a long time to show up.
安全專家、波音公司前工程師托德·柯蒂斯警告說，危險煙霧造成的傷害可能需要很長時間才能顯現出來。
Passengers involved in accidents usually are in shock and often do not recognize their injuries.
事故中的乘客通常處于震驚狀態，往往沒有意識到自己的傷勢。
Another concern, experts noted, was the amount of time it took firefighters to put out the fire.
專家指出，另一個令人擔憂的問題是消防員撲滅大火所需的時間。
Pictures show the JAL flight's burned wreckage near one of the runways.
照片顯示了這架日航航班在其中一條跑道附近被燒毀的殘骸。
The body was almost completely destroyed by fire.
機身幾乎完全被大火燒毀了。
In 2013, a fire at London's Heathrow Airport involving an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 was difficult to stop.
2013年，一架埃塞俄比亞航空公司的波音787客機在倫敦希思羅機場起火，那場火難以撲滅。
Safety expert Curtis said, "putting out the fire took much more effort that a typical airliner fire."
安全專家柯蒂斯說：“與典型的客機起火事故相比，撲滅此類火災需要付出更多的努力?！?/p>
Curtis said he worried at the time about composite fuselage fires.
柯蒂斯說，他當時擔心復合材料機身起火。
Those concerns, he said, have not gone away.
他說，這些擔憂并沒有消失。
I'm Mario Ritter Jr.
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