The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1943-11-25
u. 5. Office Of Air Safety
Guards Cadets in TraininQ
Accident Statistics Prove Value of Regional
Safety Officers Work; Program Has
Three Main Divisions.
BY
Ne1ps Analyst and Commentator.
WNU Service, Union Trust Building.
r~.t-

WNU Service, Union Trust Building.
Washington. d. C.
The army air force has been
around the world 1874. 078 times! That
is what air miles add up to-three
billion. three hundred and ffty-two
million in the fiscal year 1943.
Just how safe is the job OF a pilot?
Not the job where you have to
count on the enemy fighters and the
, ack-ack, but the job of learning to
be a pilot.
"Ninety-five out Of every hundred
army air force cadets are going
through their flight training program
with no personal injury of any kind"
says Col. Sam Harris, chief. army
air force office of flying safety.
The office of air safety is the in
stitution which has built safety into
training programs as a highly en-
phasized part of the whole regime.
It has three main principles.
Initial Phase
The first is prevention and in
vestigation," and the keynote here
Is experience. The 54 officers who
take care of this end Of the work
have a total air experience of 80
years. 3l8 days in the air. These
men. known as regional safety Of
fcers (RSOs) are assigned to each
air force and command in the Unit
ed States.
Here is an example Of how the
RSO works. He goes to a certain
field. He meets some cadets who
say they haven't had any breakfast.
He puts that down in his notes. He
looks the place over. notes a ditch
parallel to a runway. He orders the
ditch filed, talks with the mess Of
fcer and has breakfast served ear
lier. Then he tackles the boys
themselves. He gives them a talk
on the importance of instruments.
Three separate moves and the &C.
cidents are cut down there.
The second principle is flight con-
troll" Here is where the flight con-
troll officer. traffic cop of the air.
comes in. For traffic control is as
important in the air as On the street.
The men of this force offer a
Pilots Advisory Counsel. This serv-
ice leads pilots through or around
dangerous traffic or weather condi-
tons.
Suppose the fight control officer
in IL : Seattle center knows Lieu
tenan, Smith is headed in that d.
rectioeir He also knows that a "cold
'front.' lis moving across his path.
So h. radios Smith. tells him to
make a. an alternate airport.
No. c,>on the list of safeties is
safety Jucati0n."
Safety Education
Most of the accidents in training
in the United States are due to per-
sonnet error-the fault of the human
being, not the weather or the ma
chine. This education comes through
special movies. through manuals,
through cartoons and posters.
Here are some Of the slogans that
help:
Hitler and Hirohito cheer {.
when you forget your maps . .
when you pay no attention to tele-
phone wires . when you jam on
your brakes . when you don't
check your gas . :"
Other points are driven home with
a little sardonic humor such as
when a pilot thinks he's pretty hot,
he's usually close to burning" ITO
grow old in the natural way, a pilot
has to use his luck sparingly -"
The first six months of 1913 com
pared with all of 1912. show these
percentages Of reduction Of acct
dents:
In primary schools 2.3%
In basic schools $50
In advanced schaals liz
And just see the table for acct
dents as miles flown go up!
1921-3O-Miles flown. l55, 8l8. 000-
accident rate, FL.
1943-Miles flown, 1851, $40, 600
accident rate, ZIG.
That's how America is learning
safety in the skyways.
IT,. Q.:~e R.,1-o:k:ou