Evening star., 1941-03-01
Air Safety

In February, 1884, the Post Office
Department threw every domestic
airmail contract out the window and
called upon the Army Air Corps to
take over the airmail service. This
the Army did, without adequate
preparation or proper equipment, in
the midst of one of the severest win
tiers in years. Within less than a
month fifteen crashes had taken a
toll of eight lives and four more were
lost before the Army relinquished the
service to a reorganized domestic air
transport industry in May of that
year.
But the difficulties did not end
there and, after the death of Senator
Bronson Cutting of New Mexico in a
commercial airline crash, an aroused
Congress, after long study, enacted
the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1888.
The act set up an independent Civil
Aeronautics Authority and an Air
Safety Board 1t took civil aero
nautics out of the Commerce De-
partment, where, critics said, it had
been the subject of political pressure
and patronage and the victim of
bureaucracy and inefhciency.
Almost Immediately after these in
dependent agencies took over, there
was a great improvement in all
aspects of civil aviation. Private
flying expanded. Non-scheduled air
commerce developed vigorously. Air
transportation entered upon one of
the greatest periods of progress in
the history of human transportation.
At the same time it entered an era
of greater safety than any form of
transportation had known. For
seventeen months there was not
serious accident on any American
airline; not passenger, crew men,
ber or airport worker was killed or
even injured seriously.
Then, out Of clear sky, over the
strenuous opposition of virtually
every organized aviation interest in
the country, and for reasons never
adequately explained, a Federal re-
organization plan deprived the c. A.
A. of its independence and trans
ferred it back into the Commerce
Department. The Air Safety Board
was abolished. That was on July /.
1910.
In August, 1910, the seventeen
month safety record came to a shock
ing close when the worst airline crash
in history took a toll of twenty-five
lives, including that of Senator
Ernest Lundeen of Minnesota. Since
then there have been four other
crashes, doubling the toll of fatali-
ties.
Is it mere coincidence that both of
these shakeups of Federal control
of civil aviation have been followed
by periods of accidents? Those who
supported the reorganization say so.
But there are others who say that
Federal control cannot be a success
so long as the same men who are re-
sponSible for making and enforcing
safety regulations also. in effect, in
veStigate themselves when there are
accidents. This condition results, it is
said, from returning the C. A. A. to
the Commerce Department.
1t is not reasonable to suppose that
a record of perfect safety could have
continued Indefinitely, regardless of
what Federal agency might have
been in control. But the abrupt
change from nearly year and half
of perfect safety to an average of
nearly one major crash a month has
made many people wonder whether
there may not be connection be-
tween this greatly increased accident
rate and the reorganization.
A special Senate subcommittee,
appointed as result of the August
crash, so far has been idle, but has
announced through its chairman,
Senator Clark of Missouri, that it
soon will begin an investigation of
the recent series of accidents. The
spirit in which this investigation is
undertaken is important. 1t should
be wholly constructive with the pur-
pose of determining whether any,
thing can be done to improve the
administration of civil aviation and
restore the safety of air travel to
itc oI laval