Mouldy Data?

NASA Squelches Air Safety Survey Report


I've mentioned here in the past that I've spent a little time as a pilot flying airplanes, and I've also got a few hundred thousand miles under my belt sitting in the back seats of commercial airliners since my first flight in 1977.

Aviation, including model airplanes, continues to be something of interest to me so I tend to keep abreast of things happening in the world of "things with wings" more than I do automobiles and soap operas on TV these days.

That said, I've been following this story for a while, and the latest evolution of it makes me think that the title of it should be "Aviation Safety Better In Spite of Government Intervention."

Members of Congress and aviation safety experts yesterday criticized NASA's refusal to release the results from an extensive survey of pilots that may help pinpoint potential safety lapses in the country's aviation network.

The reaction came in response to attempts by the Associated Press to obtain a copy of the database, which contains the results of more than 20,000 telephone interviews with airline and general aviation pilots. It is not known what the surveys uncovered.

NASA officials told the AP, which reported that it requested the database more than 14 months ago, that they would not release the information because it might shake the public's confidence in the airlines.

Members of Congress said that was not a valid reason to withhold the information and announced yesterday that they were also seeking a copy of the database and would hold hearings on the matter

[snip]...

David Mould, a NASA spokesman, said the data were still being analyzed and that he expected a final report on the project to be released this year. He conceded that it was behind schedule and said that denying the request on the grounds that it might scare the public "was probably not the best thing to do."

The database cost about $8.5 million to compile.

Here's my take on this situation and what NASA might be hiding in the process. It's bad, but I bet that it's also not what you think.

In my opinion, if aviation safety were left entirely up to the efforts of the GOVERNMENT, everyone would be in real trouble. It's been that way since the government got into the business of regulating aviation back in the 1930's.

It's the people--the professional pilots and mechanics and administrators--that keep us all safe in our daily comings and goings, in SPITE of the GOVERNMENT, not BECAUSE of the Government being there.

It's just that simple, but alot of you out there have been brainwashed to think otherwise.

Just like everything else the government is involved in, they take credit for the successes after imposing infinite artificial barriers and hurtles that have the effect of stifling progress. In this case, the problems lie with the FAA and the National Air Traffic Control system, and I say that is what NASA is covering up by refusing to release the data.

I've know a couple of Controllers in my day, and in addition to being under-paid and over worked, they were all critical of the computer and communication systems they had to work with. The FAA is still screwing around today--twenty years after I first visited the Control Tower at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport--implementing new software and hardware systems. Generally the projects are over budget and under performing,

On my visit back in 1988 I was appalled to see the display on the "Ground Control Radar" system that they used during periods of fog and other low visibility situations. It was like something out of a 1950's TV show using an antenna rather than a cable feed.

Seriously, a layman couldn't any more make out what the display was showing than if you were looking at a MRI or an ultrasound image of the human brain.

Yet these guys managed to successfully keep all of the airliners apart and I don't think that there's been a substantial runway incident in Atlanta IN SPITE of the government and their CRAPPY SYSTEMS.

I hope that Congress or SOMEBODY makes NASA pony up our $8.5 million worth of results, but I wouldn't hold my breath on my next flight on Delta.