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Keeping Pilots' Worries Secret Wrong Way To Protect Airlines

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 25, 2007

Imagine hearing this announcement from your pilot before your airplane takes off: 'I'd like to tell you how dangerous this flight is going to be, but I can't because I don't want to scare you.'

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has taken just such a ludicrous position. After interviewing thousands of pilots about aviation safety, NASA is keeping the results secret so that people won't be too frightened to fly.

The Associated Press has been trying for more than a year to get access to the data which, according to its sources, shows more close calls and troubling incidents than have been officially reported to the Federal Aviation Administration.

NASA has even gone so far as to tell the contractor who conducted the pilot survey to get rid of the data. It's hard to think of a policy more unnerving.

Congress is right to stop the destruction of the information, and NASA Administrator Michael Griffin is wise to reconsider the AP's request to see the findings.

The telephone interviews cost $8.5 million and the results are important. Pilots were given a chance to talk anonymously about hazards that might reflect badly on them or their airlines. Properly analyzed, the information could lead to improvements in aviation safety.

That is not to say flying is unsafe. Passengers have been killed in only one major commercial jet crash in this country since 2001. Pilots and controllers are well trained and commercial aircraft are well maintained.

But when pilots are asked what they worry about, the data should be shared and studied, not buried.
Federal authorities continually remind air travelers about the risks of flying by checking their shoes, X-raying their bags and confiscating their shampoo. If the bigger threat is running into another airplane on the runway, hitting a bird or getting confusing directions from air traffic control, the public has a right to know.

'I would rather not feel a false sense of security because they don't tell us,' says Rep. Brad Miller, a North Carolina Democrat who is head of the subcommittee in charge of science and technology investigations and oversight.

The flying public feels the same way about NASA's decision to keep everyone in the dark.

Miller is also right that the Freedom of Information Law does not give NASA the right to withhold information on the grounds that it might hurt the revenues of the airline industry.

It would be much more damaging if safety issues were allowed to remain undiscovered and unresolved. If someone had surveyed pilots prior to 9/11, some of them may have suggested locking the doors to the cockpit.

Congress should ensure the pilot interviews are released, and then go one step further. NASA had originally planned to extend the survey to air traffic controllers, mechanics and flight attendants, all of whom see things hidden from public view and never officially reported. Those interviews should proceed.

Congress should make sure all aviation insiders get a chance to tell what they know about air safety. As every pilot knows, it's more risky to fly in darkness than in clear daylight.

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