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Safety in the Air
1358
Safety in
the Air
the record. Where the chartei firms are concerned, no direct comparison is possible for no accident statistics on charter operations an furnished by other countries. Rather lamely, therefore the report contents itself with showing that, by the usual indices of casualty-rates and exposure, the independent operators fared rather worse than the corporations. In view of the considerably more favourable operating conditions they enjoy, B.O.A.C. and B.E.A. would be open to grave criticism if the results of the comparison were any other. The organisation and administration of some of the smaller companies are not, the report says, all that is to be desired; and operations on a shoestring budget invite risks. The age of an aircraft, however, is not an indication of its state of airworthiness ; for, throughout its life, there is a steady replacement of ageing parts; and the older a type, the better-known its problems and peculiarities, a fact which goes some way to compensate for the greater safety margins built into the latest designs. On the whole, the committee has done the best it could with the material available. But there is one major problem of air-transport operation on which it has surprisingly little to say. Crew fatigue, it seems, was mentioned as a factor in four official reports on accidents, all of which involved independent operators. It was not possible to make an assessment of the number of occasions on which fatigue might have been a factor in other accidents as the necessary information flight duty patterns were not recorded during the investigations". This is skating on very thin ice: no details are given of the four accidents, but four major crashes could cost the lives of at least 400 people. In at least one of the 1967 accidents there was considerable disquiet at the length of time the captain had been out of bed. How many of the accidents classified under the headings " poor judgment or lack of pilot discipline ", " pilot competence", " lack of crew coordination ", or even " aerodrome deficiency ", had their roots in simple tiredness ? Surely the possibility is worth at least a recommendation that the necessary information will be forthcoming in future ? We may eventually be able to judge whether the pilot of a passenger aircraft is not as liable to fatigue as a longdistance lorry-driver: the President of the Board of Trade may find that a tour of duty which the Ministry of Transport believes unsafe for the roads may also be unsafe for the air. may
help
to
improve
attitude towards the air charter companies is ambivalent: on the one hand, eager acceptance of cheap travel; on the other, faint suspicion that low fares may not be compatible with safety. In the public mind, the image is one of private enterprise, struggling to offer a ubiquitous and economic service; while the State airline corporations, majestic and expensive, move along their ordered but not always profitable way from capital city to capital city. Many, perhaps most, of those who fly in charter aircraft feel a sense of risk, but accept it in return for the gain of time and convenience over surface travel, and the saving of expense compared with an airline passage. Moreover, the charter aircraft takes the holiday traveller where he wants to go, rather than to some international airport, remote from beach or snow. Enough people regard the bargain favourably to create a thriving industry out of the package tour, where the minimum time is spent on travel, the maximum " sur place ". The suspicion of risk lies deep in the conscious or in the subconscious, until some incident brings it out. In June, 1967, two almost simultaneous major accidents to charter aircraft turned it into overt public anxiety, and the President of the Board of Trade, in tune with the prevailing mood, ordered an inquiry into the safety performance of all United Kingdom aircraft operators; for accidents were by no means confined to the charter services. The report1 of the committee he set up was lately published. The inquiry was no easy task. There is no such thing as absolute safety in the air, any more than on the roads, the sea, or the railways. Safety is relative: and relativity implies comparison. But comparison, to be valid, must be between like and like. The committee was faced with an industry of immense complexity, varying in size, resources, equipment, and (most of all) the pattern of operations, from B.O.A.C. at one end of the scale to the smallest air-taxi service at the other. It is unrealistic to compare a scheduled airline, flying along regular airways in and out of first-class airports, with a charter company catering to parties bound for minor airfields, often in inhospitable terrain. It is even unrealistic to compare B.O.A.C. with B.E.A.; for if B.O.A.C. flies longer and more spectacular routes, B.E.A. has many more arrivals and departures (the most dangerous parts of a flight) and always has to contend with European weather. If B.O.A.C., B.E.A., and the charter companies all take equal care, that should be their order in the league table of safety. Major airlines, however, can be fairly compared Essential Fatty Acids and Atheroma with other international organisations engaged on the IT has often been suggested that excess of saturated The conclusion of the same or similar routes. fats or carbohydrates in the diet may be related to the committee that B.O.A.C. and B.E.A. have been slightly inferior in safety standards to American and development of atheroma. On p. 1329 Dr. M. A. CRAWAustralian competitors is not, therefore, to be disputed: FORD describes the great differences in lipid content and but the margin is small and the balance can as well tip proportion of polyunsaturated (essential) fatty acids in the other way. The committee recommends some sen- animals living in natural and domesticated conditions, sible measures of crew training and supervision which and he suggests that the low proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the diet of developed countries 1. The Safety Performance of United Kingdom Airline Operators. H.M. may be related to the atheroma problem. Samples of Stationery Office, 1968. 8s. 6d. THE
common
"
Safety in
the Air
the record. Where the chartei firms are concerned, no direct comparison is possible for no accident statistics on charter operations an furnished by other countries. Rather lamely, therefore the report contents itself with showing that, by the usual indices of casualty-rates and exposure, the independent operators fared rather worse than the corporations. In view of the considerably more favourable operating conditions they enjoy, B.O.A.C. and B.E.A. would be open to grave criticism if the results of the comparison were any other. The organisation and administration of some of the smaller companies are not, the report says, all that is to be desired; and operations on a shoestring budget invite risks. The age of an aircraft, however, is not an indication of its state of airworthiness ; for, throughout its life, there is a steady replacement of ageing parts; and the older a type, the better-known its problems and peculiarities, a fact which goes some way to compensate for the greater safety margins built into the latest designs. On the whole, the committee has done the best it could with the material available. But there is one major problem of air-transport operation on which it has surprisingly little to say. Crew fatigue, it seems, was mentioned as a factor in four official reports on accidents, all of which involved independent operators. It was not possible to make an assessment of the number of occasions on which fatigue might have been a factor in other accidents as the necessary information flight duty patterns were not recorded during the investigations". This is skating on very thin ice: no details are given of the four accidents, but four major crashes could cost the lives of at least 400 people. In at least one of the 1967 accidents there was considerable disquiet at the length of time the captain had been out of bed. How many of the accidents classified under the headings " poor judgment or lack of pilot discipline ", " pilot competence", " lack of crew coordination ", or even " aerodrome deficiency ", had their roots in simple tiredness ? Surely the possibility is worth at least a recommendation that the necessary information will be forthcoming in future ? We may eventually be able to judge whether the pilot of a passenger aircraft is not as liable to fatigue as a longdistance lorry-driver: the President of the Board of Trade may find that a tour of duty which the Ministry of Transport believes unsafe for the roads may also be unsafe for the air. may
help
to
improve
attitude towards the air charter companies is ambivalent: on the one hand, eager acceptance of cheap travel; on the other, faint suspicion that low fares may not be compatible with safety. In the public mind, the image is one of private enterprise, struggling to offer a ubiquitous and economic service; while the State airline corporations, majestic and expensive, move along their ordered but not always profitable way from capital city to capital city. Many, perhaps most, of those who fly in charter aircraft feel a sense of risk, but accept it in return for the gain of time and convenience over surface travel, and the saving of expense compared with an airline passage. Moreover, the charter aircraft takes the holiday traveller where he wants to go, rather than to some international airport, remote from beach or snow. Enough people regard the bargain favourably to create a thriving industry out of the package tour, where the minimum time is spent on travel, the maximum " sur place ". The suspicion of risk lies deep in the conscious or in the subconscious, until some incident brings it out. In June, 1967, two almost simultaneous major accidents to charter aircraft turned it into overt public anxiety, and the President of the Board of Trade, in tune with the prevailing mood, ordered an inquiry into the safety performance of all United Kingdom aircraft operators; for accidents were by no means confined to the charter services. The report1 of the committee he set up was lately published. The inquiry was no easy task. There is no such thing as absolute safety in the air, any more than on the roads, the sea, or the railways. Safety is relative: and relativity implies comparison. But comparison, to be valid, must be between like and like. The committee was faced with an industry of immense complexity, varying in size, resources, equipment, and (most of all) the pattern of operations, from B.O.A.C. at one end of the scale to the smallest air-taxi service at the other. It is unrealistic to compare a scheduled airline, flying along regular airways in and out of first-class airports, with a charter company catering to parties bound for minor airfields, often in inhospitable terrain. It is even unrealistic to compare B.O.A.C. with B.E.A.; for if B.O.A.C. flies longer and more spectacular routes, B.E.A. has many more arrivals and departures (the most dangerous parts of a flight) and always has to contend with European weather. If B.O.A.C., B.E.A., and the charter companies all take equal care, that should be their order in the league table of safety. Major airlines, however, can be fairly compared Essential Fatty Acids and Atheroma with other international organisations engaged on the IT has often been suggested that excess of saturated The conclusion of the same or similar routes. fats or carbohydrates in the diet may be related to the committee that B.O.A.C. and B.E.A. have been slightly inferior in safety standards to American and development of atheroma. On p. 1329 Dr. M. A. CRAWAustralian competitors is not, therefore, to be disputed: FORD describes the great differences in lipid content and but the margin is small and the balance can as well tip proportion of polyunsaturated (essential) fatty acids in the other way. The committee recommends some sen- animals living in natural and domesticated conditions, sible measures of crew training and supervision which and he suggests that the low proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the diet of developed countries 1. The Safety Performance of United Kingdom Airline Operators. H.M. may be related to the atheroma problem. Samples of Stationery Office, 1968. 8s. 6d. THE
common
"