Evening star., 1928-05-27
BY FREDERICK n. NEELY.


l. the immediate future by q
mounting casualty list due to
the continued and growing operations
of unlicensed pilots and unlicensed
planes within the borders Of the several
States.
The development of the airplane and
the exploits of Col. Charles A. Lind
bergh, which have emphasized the
safety and reliability of flying, call fer
reduction In the number of accidents
despite the increased use of the plane.
But this reduction will never come as
long as there is flying element in the
United States which operates outside
the reach of the Aeronautics Branch.
Department of Commerce, which up to
the present has so efficiently and i'm
pressively administered the affairs Of
civil flying in interstate operation.
Government License.
The general answer for reduction
of fatalities lies in two words: Gov
eminent license" The Department of
Commerce has proof for this point. OF
course the department does not imply
that If every plane and every pilot Ill
the land are licensed there will be no
more accidents-there always Will be
accidents as long as the human being
continues to err.
State Rights Argument.
When the air commerce act OF 1926
became effective there was one Woro
written across every page OF the docn.
ment which, to the administrators C1
the law. meant trouble from the oegm--
ning-trouble as far as the question OF
reducing accidents was concernen'
tfv.fa fnf (ltitfa
uraIly the representatives IN Congress.
alWavs ready to claim state rights,
would not delegate authority to the
Federal Government that their own
states should have and exercise.
So the AeronauticS Branch went ahead
with the duty of regulating and en-
| couraging civil aviation "in interstate
| commerce" And while they have
| forged through dark forest in wnicn
no trail previously had been blazeo: !:
| while they now are out in the light OF
| dav and moving forward with the sltu-
| alton we'll in hand, the condition IN
the States might be declared as oelne
| lust the reverse.
In interstate commerce there are n.y.
ing aircraft that have been inspected
and found to be aerodynamically and
strlctIrally sound. These aircraft are
being piloted by men (and womenl VINO
have been examined for their ABILITY 10
f1v and who have been declared satls-
factory. The license card IN the plane
and the license card in the pilots pocket
are the points upon which civil avlatlon
in America is going to survive or per-
ish. Both licenses are earned. They
tell the public, ignorant of the capa-
bilities or inequalities Of this or that
plane and this or that pilot, that what
stands before them Is good, sound and
reasonably safe The Government in
dorses both the ship and the aviator:
But the States-in the four boundary
limits of the States, there are operating
airplanes that the AeronauticS Branch
refused 10 approve as being airworthy
in fact or theory for interstate COM
merce. Operating these craft are peo-
pie who either were turned down fiat
because of their inability to demonstrate
clearly to the air inspectors that they
could fly or because they never took
the trouble to apply for license and
hence their flying qualities are unknown.
Yet day after day they fly, carrying
innocent persons aloft who have not yet
learned to demand inspection OF pilot
and plane licenses before they go up.
Day after day they crash and as fast
as one crate" is waShed-out, another Is
ready 10 take its place. The evidence
on this point of unlicensed planes and
unlicensed pilots is Overwhelmingly
against them.
Index to Casualties.
The first index TO civil aircraft cas-
ualties ever published in this country
has lust been issued by the Aeronaut1cs
Branch for the calendar year 1927. Pub
II -. Il.N. l. ~nI hts q w
and from these statistics the department
is able TO shape its course.
Eighty-three per cent of the atrplane
accidents occurred with unlicensed
planes-the actual number of ships in
volved being l66, while the number of
licensed plane accidents was but "a.
The unlicensed pilots killed numbered
54. or SO per cent of the total pilot
fatalities for the year. while the licensed
pilots lost were but II.
And now comes the worst feature
OF the unlicensed pilot and plane oper-
alton: n passengers we're killed in the
unlicensed planes, while but % lost
their lives in the licensed aircraft
with this tabulation of civil air ac-
cidentS and casualties topheavy on the
unlicensed side. officials of the Aero
nauticS Branch of the Department OF
Commerce do not have 10 argue Sonle-
thing that speaks for itself. AS the facts
and figures stand. there can be but one
conclusion--liceuSe every pilot and
plane In the country, whether they
never intend 70 leave the border of a
State or not. Then. and then only, is q
decrease In aircraft accidents to be
looked for. II is held
An inquiry into the management Of
commercial aviation by the states re-
vealS 20 that have no aeronautical leglS-
lation. These 20 are harborS Of refuge
for those pilots and planes seeking TO
escape from the long arm Of the air
lows
Alabama. Arizona, Georgia. Illinois.
Indiana, Iowa. Mississippi Missouri.
Montana. Nebraska. New Hampshire.