《中英對照讀新聞》Pilot faces inquiry after World War II plane loses cockpit dome 二戰飛機座艙罩掉落 飛行員面臨調查

◎ 魏國金

A pilot faced investigation after his veteran US warplane, which had survived World War Two, lost its cockpit dome in mid-air while he flew over Germany.

一名駕駛歷經二次世界大戰的美國老戰機的飛行員，因為在德國上空飛行時，丟失了戰機的座艙罩而面臨調查。

The veteran P51 Mustang was on its way to the ILA air show in Berlin when the entire hatch suddenly detached, leaving the pilot and co-pilot to struggle the last 400 kilometres with just a windshield to protect them.

這架老舊的P51野馬式戰鬥機是在飛往柏林的國際航太科技展途中，整個艙口蓋突然鬆開，致使飛行員與副駕駛在最後的四百公里航程，僅賴擋風玻璃的保護艱難行進。

The debris fell on a city of 280,000, Muenster. One metal piece of the 1942 vintage plane landed just one metre away from a woman who was at a tennis court to pick up her daughter.

殘骸碎片掉落在有二十八萬人口的明斯特市。這架一九四二年老飛機的一塊金屬片，掉在距一位婦女僅一米遠的地方，當時該女子在一座網球場要搭載愛女。

Muenster officials said that under international rules, the pilot should have radioed an accident report immediately. They said no such call was logged on the SOS channel, but other radio traffic records were still being investigated.

明斯特官員說，依據國際法規，這名駕駛應立即用無線電發送意外報告。他們說，在求救頻道中並沒有這樣的呼救紀錄，不過其他的無線電通報紀錄仍在調查中。

The pilot's address had also been passed on to the woman and the owners of a takeaway-food stand and a house that were hit by the debris. They had the right to sue the pilot for damages.

飛行員的供詞也將傳達給這名婦女，與遭殘骸擊中的一家外帶食物攤及一間房舍的主人們。這些人有權為其損失控告飛行員。

新聞辭典

cockpit：駕駛員的座艙，cockpit dome：駕駛座艙罩。

vintage：釀酒的年份。

vintage car：（一九一九年至一九三○年製造的）老式汽車； vintage plane引申為老式飛機。

log：名詞指航海或飛行日誌，在本文為動詞，意指將…記入飛航日誌。

pass on：傳遞、傳達。