Evening star., 1949-12-31

we'll as about the status quo.
The laws Of nature, as opposed TO the
physical laws of matter, were code OF laws
believed to exist to govern the way to the
best happiness Of mankind. These laws.
being moral in nature, were conceived to
govern apart and completely separate from
the laws of matter, yet Jointly with them.
Voice in the Wilderness meant, believe.
that men should act in accordance with
some such body of beliefs, to which Mr..
Reynolds would seem to agree through
negation. VIVA VOCE.
Wants Objective Study
OF Safest Airplane Landing Aids.
TO the Editor OF The Star:
Our Nation can justly be proud OF the
chronological advances made IN the past
twenty years in the development OF trans
port aircraft. From uncertain, sputtering,
flimsy crates with very few navigational aids,
the airplanes have developed into COM
Portable beautifully decorated, and highly
complex sky lounges. But we have not yet
given to the travelling public the safety fac
tors which are now available for applica-
ton In daily usage. Human propensity for
jumping to conclusions has too frequently
sought the solutions to the avoidance Of air
accidents. For example. Washington has one
OF the largest and best equipped airports in
the world, and even though it is very busy
airport. there are many long periods out OF
each "a hours when no plane arrives or
takes of from the airport. When, however,
an unfortunate collision took place between
a plane flown by military flyer OF another
nation and a domestic commercial plane. the
clamor came from all sides to prevent all
military planes from flying in the vicinity Of
the Washington airport. This recommended
tion to keep military planes out Of COM
mercial air channels is undoubtedly sound
suggestion. However, it is by no means the
solution of the much broader and more
complex problem of guiding planes to safety
at domestic airports in all types OF weather.
Another unfortunate occurrence took
place within recent weeks when COM
mercial land plane piloted by man OF
competency and experience landed in the
water with his human freight instead OF on
the airport landing strip. After this acci-
dent, the hoary excuse of engine failure"
has been made. 1t is true indeed, that both
engines may not have responded to the
acceleration demanded by the pilot. But
the more fundamental question is why the
plane was flown into water instead OF alight-
ing on land.
Pressure Groups Feared.
My concern today is that pressure groups
and internecine politics are preventing the
American citizen from having the kind OF
safe air transportation which he can have by
the adoption Of certain proven practices ana
systems which are now available. II these
obstacles are overcome, perhaps air traVel
can be made safer. =,
We should Immediately place before an
unbiased and technically competent body.
the problems Of landing aids and pilot
training. Regrettable indeed, is the conflict
which is being waged today in very sincere
manner between the advocates OF lis un-
strument Landing System) and GCA
(Ground Control Approach SYSTEM. Most
Of, the pilots on the domestic airlines who
have come to their positions OF pre-eminence
in flying, through years OF experience and
civilian training, strongly advocate the In
strument Landing System They will admit.
however, that the Instrument Landing Sys-
tenn is not as good today as it can be because
the best kind OF approach lights have not
been installed in the terrain leading to the
airports of our Nation. One OF the main
reasons why the best approach light systems
have not yet been installed. understand, Is
because of a jurisdictional dispute between
contractors.
Because they are staunch supporters OF
the Instrument Landing System, the COM
mercial pilots do not see eye to eye with the
military pilots who favor with potent una
nimity. the Ground Control Approach Sys-
tenn. It is true that the GCA requires very
costly ground installations and competent
operators. But the installations are available
and the operators can be trained, and every
one will agree that human life cannot be
measured in terms of dollars and cents.
Furthermore, the interruption Of schedules
by low ceiling and bad visibility is unques-
tionably very costly to the commercial air.
lines. When pilot follows the instructions OF
GCA he does merely what he Is told by the
operator on the ground, and 1t has been
proven by experience that if he does exactly
what he is told, the wheels Of his plane viii
touch the runway on each occasion for q
perfect landing However, mechanical train
ing Is not the main element in making
pilot q good recipient of GCA instructions.
He must have schooled himself by training
to place his confidence IN the man below
and to do exactly what he is told to do re-
earding rate of descent. position to left or
right Of glide path, etc.
Self-Discipline Needed.
This is one Of the main difficulties with
an individual who has been flying lis all
Of his life. He lacks the necessary SELF
discipline, which can be acquired only by
diligent training. to depend upon somebody
else who sees his plane on scope in its
exact position to the airport runway. AS
captains Of their ships, 1t Is against the
nature Of such pilots to surrender control to
others, except in absolute emergencies.
But proper safety and efficiency are not
achieved by the emergent use Of dCA. and
the lis pilot coming in for . landing with
split loyalty to GCA and lis. will almost
inevitably follow his own "hunch" leading
perhaps to disaster Furthermore, the con-
tention has also been made that the pilots
Of domestic commercial lines are against
the Ground Control Approach System be-