Evening star., 1924-12-11
PATRICK BELIEVES AIR TRAVEL
FULLY AS SAFE AS RAILROADS
Army Flying Chief Says
Hazards Are Largely
Cut DOiUn.
Predicts Risks Viii Soon
Be Taken on LiUes at
Reasonable Rates.

BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, December 11.-Maj.
Gen. Mason NJ. Patrick, chief of
the Air Service of the United States
Army, believes that aircraft trans
portation systems for passengers,
mail and goods can, under proper
conditions, compete for safety and
reliability with the stands of railway
train service, or even SurpaSS them.
He made that statement this after
noon to the eighteenth annual con-
Venion of the Association of Life In
surance Presidents in urging the life
insurance companies to give consid
Grafton to the granting of insurance
at regular premiums on the lives of
travellers by air and the operators
of aircraft, declaring also that such
insurance would greatly aid the de-
velopment of air transportation. Gen.
Patrick, who learned to fly when
about 60 years old, often uses the
airship to save time in the trans
action of his official duties.
When invited to address this meet
ing | must confess that | was some
what cheered and elated by the
knowledge that an association of in
surance men was at last willing to
take some kind of a chance on an
aviator. For my part l am going
to venture the bold statement that
before very long air traffic and air
transportation will be on par with
other transportation insurance risks,
otherwise history will have reversed
itself.
Best Pence Insurance.
II want to touch for just a mo-
ment upon the military phase of the
development and use of aircraft. The
experience of the World War has
convinced all who have studied the
matter that in future wars aircraft
will play an important, or possibly
a decisive part; that the only ad-
equate and effective defense against
an air attack is an air force of
your own, and hence such an air force
properly equipped, highly trained
must be part OF our military eStab-
lishment. So far as our national
safety is concerned, it is my firm
opinion that an adequate air force is
the best peace insurance policy that
this country can obtain.
Aircraft as weapons of warfare
yearly become more swift. more pow
erful, more destructive, but it is in
aircraft as agents of commerce,
carrying the worlds goods and trans
porting the peoples of one community
to another, that the deeper signlfi-
canoe lies.
Inevitably the time will come
when the life insurance companies
will be willing to grant insurance at
regular premiums on the lives Of
travellers by air and the operators of
aircraft. This would greatly aid the
development of air transportation and
l hope that this association will give
careful consideration to such an i'm
portant matter.
Hazards Being Eliminated.
"It is a fact that much has been
done during the past few years to
make flying less hazardous. This in
volved the consideration of many fac
tors, among them the Improvement of
equipment, laying out and marking
air routes and the creation of proper
facilities along them. With landing
fields at proper intervals, many of
the risks of flying would be elimi-
mated.
That there are comparatively few
casualties suffered by the air mail is
marked evidence of the safety with
which a we'll designated air route,
one along which there are enough
landing fields, may be traversed.
These air mail pilots flew over 2.0O0,-
600 miles without single fatality.
on the British and Dutch air lines
during the past three years the aver
age number of passenger air miles to
each passenger fatality was 2,663, 900.
Prior to 1913 for a number of years
there was an average of one pas
senger casualty on our railroads for
about every 1000, 900 passenger miles.
I'm fact it is believed conclusive
evidence already exists that air
travel under proper conditions can
be conducted with a degree of regu-
larity, safety and dispatch sufficient
to establish it as a significant addi-
tional channel of commerce In the
TRANSPORTATION resources of a nation.
Air transportation has passed the ex-
detrimental stage. The knowledge
gained during the past six years in
the operation of regular air trans
portation services, particularly in
Europe, has demonstrated incontest
ably that aircraft, as agents of COM
merce have arrived.
Figures Show Results.
"The following figures, recently
compiled in my Office, will serve as
convenient measure of this accumu-
lated experience: During the five
wears from 1919 to January l, 1924,
regular scheduled air transportation
services have operated an aggregate
mileage of over 20 100000 miles. They
have transported during this period
total of 121,496 passengers, 100000
pounds of merchandise and 7,145,O0O
pounds of mail.
During the past three years the
Post Office Air Mail Service in this
country has transported over 4,0OO,-
900 pounds of mail along the trans
continental route between New York
and San Francisco with loss of only
five one-thousandths of one per cent.
rrL ha with
centage of registered packages lost in
the United States during 1922, namely,
seven and a half one-thousandths of
nnn rar cent This air mail has al