AIR SAFETY THEORIES

Press, Volume C, Issue 29680, 25 November 1961, Page 17

AIR SAFETY THEORIES

Experiments In U.S.

(N Z P A -Reuter—Copyright)

WASHINGTON, Nov 23. Two widely held theories about air safety—that tranquilisers affect pilot performance and that rear-facing seats can save lives in a crash —have been tentatively discounted by the United States Federal Aviation Agency. The F.A.A. said that experiments at its medical research centre in Oklahoma City have discounted both theories, although further tests are being made. United Press International reported. The tranquiliser experiments, for example, involved only six pilots, but the agency wants to try drugs on a test group of st least 100 pilots, as well as air traffic controllers. However, even the preliminary results were considered significant, U.P.I. said. Tranquilisers were reported to have played a possible role in the crash of a Piedmont Airlines DC-3 near Charlottesville, Virginia, on October 30, 1959. The Civil Aeronautics Board blamed the crash on a navigation error by a captain who had been under psychiatric treatment, which included the use of tranquilisers. The CA B. conceded that the pilot might have discontinued the drugs at least 40 days before the accident. But it said the accident underlined a need for research into various drugs that might affect crew performance. F.A.A. experiments on rearfacing seats bore out previous research. They showed that in any crash at a low enough speed to permit survival, it made no difference in what direction a seat faced. The tests demonstrated that most important factor preventing injury in a low-speed, "survivable” crash was the strength of the seat floor attachments and belts. Some British aeroplanes and United States military transports are equipped with rear-facing seats. A few experts have urged their adoption by American airlines.