Evening star., 1928-05-08

be found All undercurrent of feeling
between those assigned to the line and
| those assigned to the air, although none
/ of the officers. for obvious reasons, is
disposed TO talk for publication. AS q
line officer pointed out, there is too
much hobnobbery between the personnel
In the Air Service. due to the fact that
officers and men are thrown so closely
together It Is contended that officers
of the Air Service are not held to sucn
strict accountability for accidents and
violations of the regulations as are
! those assigned to strictly line duties
| That the air officers have been able TO
get away with 1t is one of the bases of
| apparent jealousy that has grown up
| They point out, too, that there is ap-
parently little effort to make air off,
GERS pay the responsibility for damag
| ing equipment due TO carelesSness rather
than errors OF Judgment. They also
pointed out that the physical condition
of the aviators is not so closely check
ed as is the condition of the other line
personnel when they are aboard ship
This would seem also TO be indicated by
Admiral MofYett's report. which says
that Mondays and Thursdays are the
peak days in respect to crashes, as may
be seen from the figures accompanying
the report.
1T is hardly necessary" says Ad-
mirai Moffett, Ito point out that these
two days follow holidays" Wednesday
afternoon is holiday in the Navy.
On the other hand, officers of the air
service comment that on the side OF
those officers assigned to ship duty
the punishment has not been SO great
sub cl4 Gd
that a comparison of the monetary loss
over a given period would indicate
that the air service has not cost as
much for repairs as the surface ship
branch.
Hits Use of Faulty Planes.
Reverting again to the report oi
Admiral Mofiett, little of which be-
came public in the press, he agar
gets back to the personnel problem
In that faulty planes we're allowed tc
be taken aloft. He says that tail spins
still lead as cause of fatalities and
can almost invariably be traced tc
faulty dying Judgment, which, in turn
1t Is believed is mast often traceaole
70 lack Of experience In flying. Of laci
OF experience In particular type oi
plane, or too infreuuent flying. IL Il
born out In the following paragraphs oi
this analysis. II such be the case
these accidents can, with few excep.
tons, be catalogued as unnecessary
"A study has been made of the effect
that increased flying per year has upon
crashes and Is extremely interesting In
| the results obtained. Despite the fact
| that pilots who few In the neighbor.
/ hood OF 400 hours year were In the
air four times as much as those in thc
| i00-hour classes. and consequently ex-
posed 10 flying hazards for a period
four times as long. their crashes pei
year we're 40 per cent less. No better
proof could be had Of the results 10 be
expected from too tnfreauent flying, and
apparently the 6aturation point. or point
where . pilot begins 10 show signs oi
ktaleneas from too much flying, Is q
great many hours beyond the 400-houi
point"
In concluding, IL Is well TO point out
that Admiral Leigh makes 1t plain that
no one is being investigated, but IL d
a condition that Is being inquired into
with view TO its correction In the fu.
/ ture. Those crashes that have beer
| passed by are ended 50 far as any dis
/ eipltne at this time is concerned, and
| the putting Of the personnel assigned
/ 70 the Air Service on Its toes with q
view 10 saving human life Is the main
| problem before the board.
THE matter OF saving human lives,
| he commented, lis serious, and II bS
this action one life can BE- saved. much
good viii have been accomplished. Al.
iuding 10 rumors Of resentment on the
part Of the flying personnel when worc
of the investigation" vas made pub
/ lie, Admiral Leigh said: II thought
would be supported heartily"