One of the worst year in the history of air safety began on New Year's Day of 1985 when an Eastern Air Lines Boeing 727 crashed on a mountainside in Bolivia, killing twenty- nine people. From then on tragedy followed tragedy, as the death toll climbed to over fifteen hundred in a succession of airplane accidents around the world. Seasoned travelers began to wonder if flying was as safe as they previously had assumed. Federal regulatory agencies came under scrutiny for their effectiveness in monitoring the airlines, and new measures were proposed to counter such deadly hazards as wind sheer and ice buildup. And yet statistics prove that, although the airplane isn’t the safest means of transportation (travel by rail or bus is safer), it is much safer than riding in an automobile. For every billion passenger miles, one person is killed in an accident involving a scheduled airline. By contrast, at least ten people are killed in automobile accidents per 1 billion passenger miles. Flying Safe? recounts the history of aviation safety, from the first fatal air crash in 1907, through the growth of the airlines industry and the creation of regulatory agencies to oversee air safety, to the new age of high-speed jumbo jets and crowded air lanes. Is the Federal Aviation Administration, whose responsibility it is to assure air safer, lax in enforcing safety regulations? Are airplanes subject to shoddy workmanship? Are the air traffic controllers too overworked and under too much pressure to handle adequately the heavy volume of landings and takeoffs? These are just a few* of the areas of concern explored in Flying Safe? After you read this book, you probably won’t renounce airplanes as a means of getting to your destination, but it’s a sure bet that the next time you board a plane, will make a point to notice where the emergency exits are located and to s en to the flight attendant explain safety procedures.

hardcover

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