
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, November 18, 1994                   TAG: 9411180087
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-22   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

AIR SAFETY

COMMERCIAL air travel is safe in the United States - quite safe, in fact - but some types apparently are safer than others. Major carriers, to be specific, are held to higher standards than commuter lines.

This was news to most travelers - unwelcome news.

In Roanoke, where about half the departing flights each day are commuter aircraft with fewer than 31 seats, and where there is only one noncommuter airline - USAir, which has had five crashes since 1989 - to choose from, this may have been particularly unwelcome news.

There's no cause for panic. Indeed, much of the recent concern about airline safety has been exaggerated. All risks ought to be judged in relative terms - and air travel remains extremely safe, relatively speaking.

News, by definition, focuses on the one accident and largely ignores the thousands of safe takeoffs and landings, not to mention the cumulative carnage from daily auto accidents on the nation's highways.

On the other hand, Americans like to think that safety regulations should protect them, if not from the rare error or mishap, then at least from institutional patterns of error and risk.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates accidents and makes recommendations for improving safety, is recommending that commuter carriers operate under the same training and safety rules as major airlines. But it cannot order such a change. The Federal Aviation Administration must do that - and it should.

Some differences and exceptions in the rules might be necessary and understandable. But, where safety is concerned, it's hard to see why standards shouldn't be equally strict for small and large aircraft. Big cars are safer, generally, than small cars, but the same safety regulations apply to both. Why not with airplanes?

Such a change would run counter, of course, to the anti-regulatory fervor sweeping the nation. It also would cost money, perhaps proving a hardship for some commuter airlines.

No longer would commuter pilots be allowed to fly more hours than pilots for the major airlines. They might also have to get the same level of training as their counterparts for the big carriers. The latter requirement would mean hands-on training in flight simulators, which often are not available for some models of small aircraft for months or even years after the planes are being used.

Imposition of new rules should be reasonably flexible and accommodating. But it also should be reasonably a part of the cost of doing business. Whether stepping onto a jumbo jet or ducking into a commuter plane, air travelers should expect roughly the same safety regulations to apply.

by CNB