Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 15, 1994 TAG: 9411150099
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Dallas Morning News
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The Air Line Pilots Association urged the Federal Aviation Administration to bring commuter airline regulations to the standards of larger carriers. In a separate move, the International Airline Passengers Association warned passengers to stay completely away from planes with fewer than 31 seats.
``The bottom line is that the margin of safety on many commuter flights is less than that of a big jet,'' said Julia Reneau, spokeswoman for the Air Line Pilots Association. ``It's time that all the nation's air carriers insist on the highest margin of safety for all of their passengers.''
But the Air Transport Association, which represents airlines, responded that its members ``continue to have confidence in the safety and operations procedures of their regional airlines partners.''
The association said the warning to avoid commuter flights ``needlessly frightens the public.''
The salvos by the pilots union and the 150,000-member passengers association came two weeks after an American Eagle propjet crashed in northwest Indiana, killing 68.
That flight, which technically was not a commuter flight by FAA definition, has focused attention on small airlines and what many believe is a higher accident rate among propeller-driven aircraft.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates all fatal airline accidents and makes recommendations to the FAA, declined to comment Monday.
The safety board plans to release its almost yearlong study of commuter aircraft safety at a meeting today. The three-member panel also is expected to call for sweeping improvements in crew scheduling, training and federal oversight.
David Stempler, executive director of the passenger association, said his group was frustrated with what he called the FAA's lack of attention to some ``real problems.''
``Commuter aircraft with under 31 seats are the real hazard,'' Stempler said. Over 15 years, he said, the small planes were involved in 29 fatal accidents, compared with only one for regional planes of 31 or more seats.
FAA and airline officials said the warning from the passengers' association was too alarmist. At the same time, the government and the airlines said they are looking for ways to make flying safer.
The smaller airplanes account for 630, or roughly a fourth, of the daily departure seats at Roanoke Regional Airport, airport spokesman Mark Courtney said. About half the departing planes at the airport are the smaller aircraft.
Courtney cautioned, however, that some of the regional airlines fly their smaller planes under the same safety standards as apply to their larger planes and the planes of the major airlines with which they are affiliated. That should be taken into account when looking at the statistics, he said.
Although studies may show the accident rate of the smaller planes is greater than that of the larger planes, their safety records overall are still enviable considering how much they fly, Courtney said. The regionals have improved, and the equipment and technology they use have improved, he said.
American Eagle officials said that all of their airplanes, regardless of size, are operated under the same standards as the largest jets.
``It's disappointing that they used a broad brush stroke to indict all aircraft under 31 seats, especially since we are operating them under the safest standards there are,'' said American Eagle spokesman Tim Smith.
Coincidentally, American Eagle officials also were dealing Monday with an incident in New York in which the cockpit emergency hatch on one of their company's planes fell off during takeoff.
None of the 18 passengers and crew aboard the British-made Shorts 360 was injured, but the plane was forced to return to the field.
by CNB