GROWING SAFER

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 119, 22 May 1930, Page 20

GROWING SAFER

COMMERCIAL FLYING

CAUSE OF CRASHES

MOST DUE T() PILOT

, The claim ojE Australian Aerial Ser-. ••"•■ vices, Ltd., that its pilots have flown a ■- million miles without a fatality, or even : a serious accident, prompts the.'inquiry, •'How safe is flying?" In the United States it is estimated that'an average of one; death occurs for every 500,000. nines of commercial Hying as contrasted with one dentli for every 200,000 miles of mweelhuioous flying—joy-hopping; spori, arid tuxi , service. Why is there -this difference ■between tho record of; safety'in trans- • port flyiug and that.of joy-hopping? . The strong probability is that the: su- . perior machines used in tho organisod '""air-lines and the greater'regard -paid to, " weather conditions are most importantfactors. Safe flying also, demands '■quick thinking, good judgment, considerable :: experience, and a. fairly high order^of technical knowledge. .. ■ : Mr. Charles Murphy, who had charge of the rescue 'plane that flew to Greenelv Island in 1928 and brought back to" New York the crew of the Bremen, ■the first 'plane to make the westward crossing oi the Atlantic, writes in "Harper's, Magazine" on this and other iiripcets of aviation after consultation with several aeronautical engineers. A i Client fctudy of accidents both m the United States and abroad, he sajs, showed plainly that most accidents can be divided into two general divisions. The first group consists of those caused l>y the failure, of the machine itsclt, either directly or as a result of conditions under which it opeiates. The second is made up of those- caused by failure of the pilot—in other words human failure — duo to careless or faulty flying HUMAN FAILURES. Generally structure and ongiuo failures are responsible for about 20 per cent, -of the accidents. Weather, poor visibility, ana darkness contribute an additional 11 per cent. Miscellaneous causes add about H per cent, niorc.^ Blame, for the rest —at least 50 per cent, on tie''total —is traced to human failure, which fis to say incompetent-or careless flying.l There was a total of ,1132 aeroplane accidents in tho United States in 1928! .Of this number well over 800 were caused by spins and stalls, either due to engino or structural failure or to improper flying, and to accidents •while in the act of landing or taking off. 'In practically every one of these accidents it becomes evident that the considerable minimum speed necessary for maintaining controllable and stable flight played a large part not only in the initial cause, but in the extensiveness of the accident. It is the impossibility of steady flight below what is Renown ass the stalling speed that is the source of danger to air travel ■to-day. "When flying speed tails below that level the 'plane ceases to fly. frhe wing fails to-produce enough lift •fo ovcrepino gravity, and control disappears. The 'plane, in short, is no longer a flying machine. It is then on the verge of falling off its line of mo- • tion. perhaps iuto a spin. It may full •100 ft or 500 ft before the pilot can iegain control. If the- condition ii reached at a low altitude there is generally vrork for the Air Inquiry Board. Yet "it is not altogether just to indict the human element alone for these acci-

i dents, even it.a goodly part oi them are clue to lapses in judgment. | - THE BEST CEASH. I Tho fact remains that the very in-Hexibi-lity of - the 'plane was an accessory b'efji-^.the.fs.jt Even the best of : plots l'-x-0 era>'..*:il. 'And it' the :'plane '■itself ■'is not sufo in -iivenigo hands,1 even-when the pilot uses normally good judgment, it is the 'plane —not the pilot—that', needs ■rebuilding. Tho siit'e;.. aeroplane, .must have :i minimum top > speed-,of 3-10 miles an. hour and a landing speed of not over "38 miles an hour. - "It must''bo able to fly level, under .full control, at a speed of not more than 'SS miles an hour, and preferably slower. It must be able to take oft after a. run not exceeding 300 ft, and to c.oinp to rest, in.landing, not over 100 ft from the point where its wheels first touch the 'ground. Moreover, this theoretically safe ''plane must be stable under '.nil. conditions ot: flight, It must not'staH-.orsiHi] in Ihc event of engine failure.'"'. i.And' il\ through careless or '.incompetent piloting, the 'piano should, bo. forced into an abnormal condition.it must, owing to its inherent stability, return automatically and of its own accord to a steady flat glide within a very short distance of. fall. BECOMES CARELESS. ; .. Man,, after, all, is still a non-flying ■primitte.. Hois not yet. accustomed to ins new role. Ho is apt to think.poorly,- to.become'careless. We hay always had—the sanie trouble with tho motor-c.l| on a smaller scale. Aeronautical desTgri to-day is wisely directed toward further protecting him against his lapses andl slowwittedness. ■ 'How near are wo to this ideal? Very near; some say. The winning 'plane (a Curtiss Tanager) in the Guggenheim ■safe aeroplane competition this year met theso specifications; at least one of tho Other '■'experimental 'planes approached them, ;uid-a number o1: 'planes in. commercial' use come very near most' of them. ■ ;