TRAVEL BY AIR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21454, 30 March 1933, Page 8

TRAVEL BY AIR

Disaster, complete and horrible, has overtaken one of the liners of Imperial Airways. Twelve passengers and the crew of three perished when the City of Liverpool crashed in flames in Flanders. Such tragedies shock the public mind and give wings to anxiety as to the dangers of aviation. Unquestionably the toll of loss is a long one. But each year the degree of risk is reduced. Actually the dangers of commercial aviation organised by Great Britain aro not great. 'When the numbers of passengers are considered in relation to the number of liners employed on routes representing many hundreds of thousands of miles a year, the risk factor becomes almost negligible. Imperial Airways has a proud record but its standard of service is more or less maintained throughout Europe, where travel by air is regarded as no more dangerous than travel by boat or rail. One of the few disasters that Imperial Airways has suffered was that of a twoengined aeroplane which had been withdrawn from passenger service, but had accepted a few fares at the persistent demand of the travellers. Aeroplanes propelled by three and four engines are now engaged on the lines of the company. Another most important safety factor is that meteorological science is now able to chart the air daily, and thus there is constant guard against storm menace. Radio communication is, of course, taken as a matter of routine. The risk of a machine being struck by lightning has been greatly reduced. To-day there is comparative immunity. The machines are bonded so that every metal member is connected and the whole is a complete field for the conduct of the electrical charge and its discharge. In the three fields of aviation, military, commercial and amateur, that of commercial in Great Britain is by far the "safest." The loss in the Royal Air Force is due to the unceasing search for efficiency; that in amateur aviation is due largely to lack of skill. Commercial flying is able to recruit for its pilots the most proficient in the ranks of the airmen, and it is the rarity of their crashes that gives them so great prominence.