Are Airlines Doing Enough For Passenger Safety?

Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by suspected terrorists on the border of Ukraine. Everybody on board, 298 people, died in the attack. The question is - can or could airlines take better care of passengers' saftety?

Jitender Bhargava, former director, Air India, said alarm bells should have rung when a cargo plane was shot down. "Caution at that point could have avoided the tragedy," Bhargava added.

BoomNews's show #IndiaHangout was discussing the tragic developments leading to the shooting down of the airline.

While co-anchor Ayaz Memon said, "Fear of air travel seems to be growing," anchor Govindraj Ethiraj said: "Were airlines sticking to economical routes than taking care of passenger safety?"

Subhash Goyal, chairman (aviation & tourism committee), Indian Chamber of Commerce, said airlines should have avoided the route after the cargo plane incident. "You have to balance safety of passengers and commercial viability of operations."

He also made the point that if 3-4 airlines can avoid a corridor, others can also avoid it. "This is a wake up call for all international safety organisations."

Bhargava pointed out that this was the first instance where a non-partisan country's plane was shot down. "The point is you cannot have people having access to such missiles. Governments will have to work together and find solutions."