The New York herald., 1922-07-17
MAIL FLIGHT YEAR
WITHOUT A DEATH
Air Service Completes a Rec
ord on New York-San Fran
cisco Route.

WASHINGTON. July 1s.--At i2 o'clock
Sunday night the air mail service Of the
Post Office DEPARTMENT completed a
years daily service without single fatal
accident. During this time the planes
fving on the New York to San Francisco
route covered 1850, 900 miles. More than
100000 letters, totaling 1,224.500
pounds. were transported by air.
The record Of the air mail service for
the last year Is said by the department
to prove more conclusively than any
other test ever made the reliability and
the efficiency of the airplane in. CONNER
cial service. Through every kind Of
weather, summer fall winter and spring.
| and over mountains. deserts and forests,
| the Post Once Department sir mail
planes flew. The percentage of trips ac-
tually completed was 92.5, as compared
with SO per cent. for the last fiscal year.
The percentage Of scheduled miles ac-
| tually flown was even higher, totaling "a
/ per cent.
! While routes totalng $50 miles were
discontinued during the last fiscal year
| and only the transcontinental route of
$3.50 miles maintained, the air mail
amount OF mail as it did last year, or 23
per cent. more in each airplane load.
Oficials of the air mail service at
tribute the record Of no fatal accidents
| in a year to the fact that all their pilots
| now are experienced and tried. and they
know the route. That the pilots Of the
air mail planes of the Post Office Depart
ment are top notch among the flers of
| the United States was established at a
| recent mid-Western flying meet at Mon
mouth, III. Here the fliers of the air
mail service took five events of the eight
and six cups of the nine given as prizes.
| The mechanics. too, are more expert
enced. Last year was a pioneer year.
Then the pilots were learning the routes
| they were flying and the field and hangar
| equipment was inadequate. During the
| fiscal year ending June 80, 1921, seven
| teen people died in accidents in the air
! mail service. Many of the fatalities oc-
Cured with the metal monoplanes, which
wcre abandoned. During. the last fiscal
year one pilot was killed. His death oc-
CURED on July 16, 1921; but no man has
| met death in the Government air mail
service since then. In the last year no
| nier has been In the hospital more than
| flve days.
| The air mail service Is now maintain
ing sixteen stations on the ocean to
1
ocean route. Fifty-six planes are ready
to fly. In addition, some are being over
| hauled and some are in storage, waiting
| to be assembled. The air mail service Is
employing forty of the most expert pilots
| in the United States. The total number
| of men employed to fly the planes and to
| keep them in repair is 372. Every day
twonty-one pilots and planes are in the
air flying approximately 5000 miles.
| The speed possible by the use of the air
| mail is shown by the fact that mail
sent from New York has been delivered
| to San Francisco three days later.
The Post once Department expects to
establish night aerial mail service on
the transcontnental route within this
fiscal year. At present the planes are
used chiefly to advance mail delivered
late TO catch trains on which earlier
mail left, but night flying planes will
carry mail from New York to Chicago
or from Chicago to Cheyenne.