The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1945-01-11
WNU Service, Union Trust Building
Washington, d. G..

WNU service, Union trust DuiiulHB,
Washington, D. C.
The army air force has been
around the world l34,078 times! That
is what air miles add up to--three
billion, three hundred and fifty-tWo
million in the fiscal year l943.
Just how safe is the job of pilot?
Not the job where you have to
count on the enemy fighters and the
ack-ack, but the job of learning to
be pilot.
'Ninety-fve 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.
1t has three main principles.
Initial Phase
The first is prevention and in
vestigation' and the keynote here
is experience. The 81 officers who
take care of this end OF the work
have a total air experience Of 33
years, 3l8 days in the air. These
men, known as regional safety Of
ficers (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 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 ditch
parallel to a runway He orders the
ditch filed, talks with the mess Of
ficer and has breakfast served ear
lier. Then he tackles the boys
themselves. He gives them 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 flight control officer
in the Seattle center knows Lieu
tenant Smith is headed in that di-
rection. He also knows that "cold
'front.' is moving across his path.
So he radios Smith, tells him tc
make for an alternate airport.
No. 3 on the list of safeties is
safety education"
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 tina
help.
Hitler and Hirohito cheer
when you forget your maps
when you pay no attention to tele
phone wires when you jam OF
YOUR brakes when YOU don
check your gas -
Other points are driven home witt
little sardonic humor such a.
when a pilot thinks he's pretty hot
he's usually close to burning" 1T
grow old in the natural way, pilo
has to use his luck sparingly *"
The first six months Of ls43 com
pared with all Of 1912, show these
percentages Of reduction OF aeci
dents:
In primary schools 2.3%
In basic schools 5.5%
In advanced schools liz
And just see the table for acci
dents as miles flown 60 upl
192l-3O-M flown, l55,8l8, 600
accident rate, I'll.
l943-Miles flown, 1851 $40, 600
accident rate, .7l6. =
That's how America is learnin
safety in the skyways.
w DE- D>~r-.s.~-