Is There Cause for Fear of Flying?

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Another subject that raises questions is U.S. air-traffic controllers. "We're on the border in air-traffic control," says Russell Ray Jr., president of San Diego-based Pacific Southwest Airlines (P.S.A.). "It's getting close." Some 14,000 controllers now direct U.S. air travel, down 13% from the size of the work force just before President Reagan fired strikers in 1981. Of those now employed, only 57% are considered fully qualified, as compared with 82% who held that rating before the strike. One possible result: the number of near misses between aircraft reached a record 592 in 1984, and grew at an even faster pace during the first five months of last year. Reacting to pressure from Congress, Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole has agreed to add nearly 1,000 new controllers during the next two years.

Safety experts are also looking closely at airports. Pilots consider U.S. airports to be safe overall because local authorities have the money to install proper lighting and landing and navigation aids. Problems are greater at fields in the less developed nations of Africa and South America, which often cannot afford vital equipment. Nonetheless, flyers have raised objections to practices at some U.S. locations. The Airline Pilots Association has asked Los Angeles officials to stop allowing planes to take off with the wind, a practice the group considers dangerous. It argues that the procedure may make it harder for the aircraft to gain altitude. Federal authorities rejected the pleas and have approved taking off downwind for night flights.

Airlines insist that safety has always been their top priority. Says United President James Hartigan: "A good, tough safety program is not only morally right, it's also good business." United, the largest U.S. carrier, opened four new maintenance centers last year, bringing the number to 17, and equipped each with $2 million worth of spare parts and a full complement of mechanics. Other airlines have launched new safety programs. P.S.A. began a "no-notice inspection system" last November, in which pilots and maintenance supervisors make unannounced hangar visits to check whether needed repairs have been done. P.S.A. has also installed a cockpit system that projects speed, altitude and other essential data directly onto the lower part of the windshield. The device allows pilots to look straight ahead, rather than down at the control panel, while taking off and landing.

Aircraft makers are adding improved safety equipment of their own. Boeing is developing a wind-shear detector that it will install on new jetliners starting this summer. The device includes a warning voice that proclaims, "Wind shear! Wind shear!" once the plane enters the deadly turbulence, and provides guidance on how to respond. Boeing is also working with the FAA and United on a program to teach crews to cope with wind shear more effectively.

Passenger cabins are also becoming safer. Under FAA orders, all U.S. airlines will equip their fleets with more fire-retardant seat cushions over the next two years. By next spring the aircraft will have improved fire extinguishers and smoke detectors, and by year's end they will get emergency floor markings designed to enable passengers to escape dark, smoke-filled planes. Still more improvements are on the way. The FAA plans this week to require airlines to carry medical kits for any doctors on board to use in emergencies.