Safety Upstairs

Nowadays a man or woman who climbs into a regularly scheduled U. S. transport plane should feel in good hands. U. S. airlines closed 1939 last week with a banner year for safety. The airlines keep their fingers crossed, fearful that slips of one kind or another may still cause accidents. But the ramified science of air safety--including training and supervision of personnel, operation rules, technological aids --last year entered a new era.

On Jan. 13 a crash in Montana killed two passengers, two crew members. On March 26 a crash in Oklahoma killed seven passengers, one crew member. Total passenger deaths: nine. Thereafter, despite a travel increase estimated at 40% over 1938, there was no other passenger fatality for the rest of the year. All told, the lines piled up about 733,000,000 passenger miles --423,000,000 of them during the year's spotless last half.

In passenger miles per passenger fatality, 1936 and 1937 were far worse than 1933; 1938 was no better than 1933; but 1939 was in a class by itself. The figures:

Year Passenger Miles per Fatality

1933 22,000,000

1934 11,000,000

1935 21,000,000

1936 10,000,000

1937 12,000,000

1938 22,000,000

1939 82,000,000

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