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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厅飞机和一架客机在东京羽田机场相撞，调查人员正在调查事故原因。
Officials want to find out what caused the crash.
官员们希望找出两架飞机相撞的原因。
But there are also many questions about the fire that broke out when the planes collided on the runway.
但关于两架飞机在跑道上相撞时引发的火灾也存在许多疑问。
The body of the passenger jet, an Airbus 350, was made of carbon-composite fibers.
空中客车350客机的机身是由碳复合纤维材料制成的。
Passenger aircraft bodies have traditionally been made of aluminum.
传统上，客机的机身都是由铝制成的。
The crash may become an important test of the safety of composite materials for some uses in aircraft.
这起飞机相撞事故可能会成为对飞机上有某些用途的复合材料安全性的重要考验。
Communications from air traffic control at the airport describe some of the events leading to the crash.
机场空中交通管制中心的通讯内容描述了导致该事故的一些事件。
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机获准使用海上保安厅飞机庞巴迪Dash-8准备起飞的跑道。
When they struck each other, an orange fireball exploded from the aircraft and the passenger jet continued down the runway covered in flames.
当它们相撞时，飞机上突然爆出一团橙色的火球，客机在火焰中继续沿着跑道行驶。
When the plane stopped, crew members and all 379 passengers slid down emergency chutes within 20 minutes. All survived.
当飞机停下来时，机组人员和所有379名乘客在20分钟内从紧急滑梯上滑下来。机上人员都幸存。
The captain of the coast guard plane got out, but five members of the crew died in the crash.
海上保安厅飞机的机长逃了出来，但五名机组人员在事故中丧生。
Safety experts are praising the airline's crew and the passengers for escaping the burning plane.
安全专家赞扬了从着火的飞机上成功逃生的该航空公司的机组人员和乘客。
The crew shouted, warning the passengers to run away from the plane.
机组人员大声警告乘客逃离飞机。
Composite materials have been used for many years inside commercial aircraft.
复合材料已经在商用飞机上使用了多年。
But the first commercial plane to have its body, or fuselage, and wings reinforced with carbon fibers was the Boeing 787.
但第一架用碳纤维材料加固机身和机翼的商用飞机是波音787。
It went into service in 2011.
它于2011年投入使用。
About 1,100 of the planes have been produced.
已经生产了大约1100架此类飞机。
The Airbus A350 followed in 2018.
随后空中客车A350在2018年也开始使用碳纤维材料。
About 570 have been sold.
目前已售出约570架。
Aircraft designers use composite materials because they strengthen plastics and other materials.
飞机设计师之所以使用复合材料，是因为它们可以增强塑料和其他材料的强度。
Boeing says the material can save 20 percent of the weight of aluminum.
波音公司表示，这种材料可以节省20%的铝重量。
The reduced weight saves fuel.
减轻的重量节省了燃料。
Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) tested the strength of composites to get certification for the 787 jet.
波音公司和美国联邦航空管理局测试了复合材料的强度，以使波音787获得认证。
But concerns remain about gases released from such materials when they burn.
但人们仍然担心这类材料在燃烧时会释放出气体。
John Goglia is a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates aircraft accidents.
约翰·戈利亚是美国国家运输安全委员会的前成员，该委员会负责调查飞机事故。
He said, "There has always been a concern about composites if they catch fire."
他说：“人们一直担心复合材料会着火。”
Goglia noted that the gases released when composites burn are dangerous.
戈利亚指出，复合材料燃烧时释放的气体是危险的。
They can even be dangerous after the fire is put out because the fibers might remain in the air.
它们甚至在火被扑灭后也是危险的，因为纤维可能会留在空气中。
The FAA has said for more than 20 years that there are dangers related to composite materials.
20多年来，美国联邦航空局一直表示，复合材料存在危险。
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.
美国联邦航空局官员表示，主要的健康危险包括尖锐的材料碎片、灰尘和将材料组装在一起的物质燃烧后产生的有毒气体。
Although the inside of the passenger plane filled with smoke after the explosion, all 379 passengers were able to escape.
虽然爆炸后客机内部浓烟滚滚，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."
安全专家约翰·考克斯指出：“飞机的机身保护他们免受了一场可怕的大火的伤害，它在一段时间内没有被烧透，从而让所有人都逃了出来。”
Goglia said there is no real evidence whether composite materials or aluminum are better at resisting fire long enough to protect people.
戈利亚说，目前还没有真正的证据证明复合材料和铝材料中哪一种材料的防火性能更好，更能保护人们。
However, one passenger on the JAL flight said the smoke "stung" very much.
然而，该日航航班上的一名乘客表示，浓烟非常“刺鼻”。
Todd Curtis, a safety expert and former Boeing engineer, warned that injuries from dangerous smoke could take a long time to show up.
安全专家、波音公司前工程师托德·柯蒂斯警告说，危险烟雾造成的伤害可能需要很长时间才能显现出来。
Passengers involved in accidents usually are in shock and often do not recognize their injuries.
事故中的乘客通常处于震惊状态，往往没有意识到自己的伤势。
Another concern, experts noted, was the amount of time it took firefighters to put out the fire.
专家指出，另一个令人担忧的问题是消防员扑灭大火所需的时间。
Pictures show the JAL flight's burned wreckage near one of the runways.
照片显示了这架日航航班在其中一条跑道附近被烧毁的残骸。
The body was almost completely destroyed by fire.
机身几乎完全被大火烧毁了。
In 2013, a fire at London's Heathrow Airport involving an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 was difficult to stop.
2013年，一架埃塞俄比亚航空公司的波音787客机在伦敦希思罗机场起火，那场火难以扑灭。
Safety expert Curtis said, "putting out the fire took much more effort that a typical airliner fire."
安全专家柯蒂斯说：“与典型的客机起火事故相比，扑灭此类火灾需要付出更多的努力。”
Curtis said he worried at the time about composite fuselage fires.
柯蒂斯说，他当时担心复合材料机身起火。
Those concerns, he said, have not gone away.
他说，这些担忧并没有消失。
I'm Mario Ritter Jr.
小马里奥·里特为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
