Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-03-06
NeorMisses'


Regarding your editorial,
TOO Many Near Misses"
March 2. the only real solu-
ton to this problem will come
If and when Federal Aviation
Agency Administrator E. r.
Quesada actually does "in-
vestigate these near-misses
forthwith" as you say. My
guess is that, II he tackles
this problem as forthrightly
as he's tackled a number Of
perennial aviation problems
in the short time he's been
in Office, you'll begin to see
some good fashioned COM
mon sense creep into this
near-miss foolishneSs.
| use the word foolishness
sdvisedly. and largely be-
cause of the false notions
your editorial once again ex-
pounds. BY your definition
land many others in both
Congress and the press think
this way too a so-called
near-miss is the product of
some mystical high fever
aeronautical development,
some unknown and unexpec-
ted phenomenon Of 1.-The jet
age and so on and on. All
of which is as phony as a
three-dollar bill.
If you add all the civil and
military airplanes in the
United States together Dust
over $4,000 totaD. and as
sumo for the moment that
every one Of them was in
the air at the same time.
there still are 22.6 square
miles of land area in the
continental United States for
each airplane. Add the di-
mension that the airplane
uses most--altitudes as high
as $4,000 feet-and there's
so darned much room, even
If all these airplanes were in
the air at once. that a near
miss should be suspect the
moment it's reported.
We've been having what's
called near-misses for many
years, and for the same iden-
tical reasons. Essentially,
these reasons are predicated
on carelessness, and callous
disregard for known hazards.
When two giant airliners run
into each other in excellent
visibility. at a relative closing
speed of less than 40 m.p.h.,
this is no product Of the jet
age" Sure. If they'd been
coming at each other head
on. their combined closing
speed would have been about
$50 m p,h.-but unfortunately
for the theorists. it hardly
ever happens this way
The disregard for known
hazards is an insidious con-
tributing factor. but one
that's well known to all of
us. It's one of humanity's
most common failings. We
know very well that excessive
speed on the highways kills.
yet virtually all of us do 1t at
some time or other. We know
that one shouldn't drive after
drinking, but look at the null
titudes who do so anyway.
This basic human frailty is
Just as prevalent in airplane
pilots. no matter how exotic
or romantic people on the
ground imagine airplsne pilots
to be. Even the most skilled
professional pilots make mis-
takes or disregard known
hazards--and when they do,
headlines.
With a very few exceptions.
near-misSes are the direct
product of carelessness on the
part of one or more pilots.
They are not a product of a
decrepit system. no matter
how much the aeronautical
eggheads try to tell you other
wise. Airplanes get where they
are in the air because human
pilots put them there. Those
pilots are thoroughly educated
on all the known hazards.
such as dangerously deficient
cockpit visibility, the perils
OF excessive speed Gust as on
the highways, and so on. Yet
they continue to have acct
dents-and these so-called
near-miSseS.
These efforts to solve such
problems by replacing the
human with a system are pure
poppycock. The human pilot
is going to be with us for a
long time, just like the less
than-perfect motorist on the
highways. The sooner our
misled Government officials
recognize this, the sooner
these exaggerated reports will
stop.
And II anyone has the
courage to crack down on
these pilots, without regard
for the oressiIrea those yoiIots