The New York herald., 1922-06-11
SAFE FLYING Hinges
| ON GOVERNMENT AID
Aeronautical Chamber
Gives Six Main Requisites
for Planes.
SOUND MACHINES FIRST
Air Ports, Weather Fore
casts and Charts Needed
From Public Sources.
LIFE LOSS 40 IN A YEAR
At Least 26 Might Have Been
Prevented by Federal
Regulation.
LIFE LOSS 40 IN A YEAR

Safety in flying depends not only on
the pilot and machine but on local and
Government cooperation. says a re-
port by the Aeronautical Chamber of
Commerce for tEe Department of Com
merce. The report cites six requisites
of safe flying:
1. A machine sound, aerodynamically
and structurally.
2. An engine of sufficient power and
which operates satisfactorily.
8. A competent, conservative pilot
and navigator.
4. Air ports and emergency landing
fields sufficiently close together to in
sure gliding to safety.
5. Nationwide weather forecasts
specialized and adapted to the need
of fliers
6. Nationwide chart of air routes.
Forty-nine Deaths I'm Year.
The report says that in 1921 the 1900
aircraft engaged in ciyilian flying in the
United States flew 6,500,000 miles and
carried 250,000 persons, with ia acci-
dents, resulting in the death of 40 per-
sens and injury to SO. 1t adds:
Each of the ia accidents recorded
was caused by deficiency in one or more
of the six necessary requisites for safe
flying. Forty-nine were attributed to
the pilot, perhaps through carelessness,
perhaps incompetence. perhaps bad
judgment combined with other factors.
There is no doubt that a good pilot can
guide a poor machine to safety with
greater chance Of success than a poor
pilot can operate first class machine.
Therefore. at the very top of the list of
governmental needs we place the Federal
examination and licensing Of pilots.
During the war rather more than
1000 young men were trained to fly.
The knack of flying cannot be retained
perpetually without practice. nor can it
he maintained at high degree of COM
potency without regular examination on
common standard for all flying
throughout the United States"
Twenty Caused by Lack of Fields.
The report lays twenty accidents to
i-adequate landing fields or to the total
lack of terminal facilities; four to lack
of weather reports. ten to lack Of clearly
defined routes or limitations in travelling
over cities; twent-two to failure properly
to inspect machines; twenty-nine. in
which twenty persons we're killed and
thirty-six injured. to stunting, and eight
to carelessness In not keeping crowds off
flying fields. The report goes on:
eliminating those deaths caused by
stunt flying (twenty) and those attrib-
uted to lack of fields, weather reports
and clearly defined air lanes or routes
(six), which only Federal authority can
correct. twenty-three fatalities remain,
or one to about every 10000 passengers
and one to 2S2.60S miles Of travel un-
licensed, unregulated and uncontrolled.
and carried on for the most part in for
mer war machines. built from three to
four years ago.
''In the case of the 125 operating
companies Gas contrasted with irrespon-
sible gypsy fliers). which flew 2,9O7.-
245 miles and carried 122,512 passen-
gers on 13O.736 flights. not a single fa-
tality occurred in straight commercial
activity"