European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 16, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday june 16, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 85 safest year yet for military pilots new technology better training credited by Richard Washington not military aircraft has always been risky even in peacetime and the risks have risen As planes become More pow Erful. Yet perhaps paradoxically Mili tary pilots have become less prone to accidents and i 1985. Scored their Saf est year Sci. The margins Tor error arc slender. Pilots flying f-15 fighters at twice the Speed of sound could be rendered unconscious in 10 seconds in a tight turn. The Crew of a b-52 bomber flying 600 feel above the ground through the Rockies could not survive if he Pilot misjudged the Altitude. Navy aviators Landing an Al 4 fighter at 140 Miles an hour on an aircraft car Rier experience what is called a con trolled a Marine flier practising strafing runs can Fly into the ground if his vision is obscured for a moment. Army pilots skimming a few feel above the terrain in helicopters risk running into Trees or Power lines. In such circumstances the air Force lost 38 pilots plus 40 crewmen or Pas sengers and 51 aircraft in accidents last year according to air Force Headquarters in Washington. The Accident Rale was the lowest since the service s predecessor the army air corps began keep ing records in 1921, officers in Washington and in the Field attribute the lower Rale to a greater awareness of safely More discipline new safely features built into aircraft plus detailed investigation of accidents and wide dissemination of the Laimins Learned. A serious Accident is defined As an Accident in which someone i. Killi in. A plane is lost or $500,000 Worth of dam age is done. The air Force s Accident Rale last year was 1.5 per 100.001 hours of flying while Navy and Marine carps pilots recorded a Low of 3.j. For five Jears army pilots have been achieving Rales from 2.3 to 3.2. In contrast there were 3.10 Accident in 65.000 Hying hours in 1921, and. In world War ii the air corps Losi 5,603 men and 20,389 air planes in accidents More Thun in com rat. As More attention was paid in safety after world War ii the air Force s Acci Dent Rale dropped gradually to 3 per 100,000 hours in 1978. Pilots then thought that would be As Low As inc Rale could go. The Navy and Marine Fores trend was the same dropping from a Rale of 13.5 accidents per 100,000 hours in 1970 to 5.9 in 1980. The army s Rale dropped from 54.3 in 1958. The firs ear it was tracked to a Low of 2.3 in 1983. At Langley fab in Virginia. I. Col. Paul v. Hester inc commander of the 94th tac fighter so once led by the fabled Eddie Rickenbacker. Reports that his pilots have not suffered a serious Accident in three years because of strict rules of engagement. The colonel whose f-15 eagles Fea Ture the hat a Lac ring Emblem of heir world War i predecessors says that in a practice Hittle for instance the Al 5s Fly in null do find and widely separated blocks fairs Pace. After Eracli in Elk pilots go into a Brief ing room in View videotapes and to Point out errors with Landor and regardless of rank we Don t gloss Over mistakes i i said just because i m a lieu tenant in the 27th tac fighter so. It. Col. John w. Kul ledge says that giving More responsibility to majors who command flights of four Al 5s has helped keep accidents Down. The majors have been charged with training new pilots when they join the Squadron. The cockpit in the f-15 is user Friendly compared with older planes As vital instruments and controls Are where the Pilot can easily Sec or feel them according to the colonel. He says that As signing a Crew chief to be responsible for a specific aircraft with his name Sten filed outside the cockpit has improved maintenance. The investigation of accidents and the dissemination of findings have been Cru Cial according to safely officers Friday for example the army grounded its entire Fleet of oh-6 observation helicopters to investigate a structural problem in one that led to a recent crash. In air Force inquiries witnesses Candor is encouraged by promising that testimony will be held in Confidence. Rui Lodge also cites Mutual criticism. Before we equated being aggressive in the air with Bong obnoxious on the ground he said. But there s been a revolution in inc attitude of fighter pilots. There s less ego and More learning from the other both commanders feel that increased flying time has Cut accidents. If you Don t Fly regularly your skills Meterio Ruttedge said. Younger pilots Fly about 20 hours a month older Heads about 15 hours. According to a flight surgeon Mai. Thomas h. Nelson the stress in an f i5 s tight turns can cause blood to flow out of a Pilot s head so fast he May lose consciousness pilots Are taught to con tract the Muscles in the Abdomen and to Grunt forcing blood Back to the heart so that in can be pumped 10 the brain they re smart he said. They re Good athletes. They were the Best in night school. The first thing we teach them is the possibility they could make a another surgeon capt. Guy m. New land said. We teach respect for Crew rest not to get so tired that they Don t care and make sick pilots must see a doctor and Are not allowed to medicate themselves. The reason for All this said Newland wryly is that fighter pilots Cost a lot More than it takes s 100,000 to gel through medical school he said but s1.5 million to train a fighter Pilot. 0 to stand trial j980 bombing of Bologna station Bolcom a Nlaly Dpi the six year investigation into eur s most deadly terrorist attack a 1980 bomb sex fusion at the Bologna Railroad station that killed 85 Pesle and injured nearly 200 reached a conclusion Sal Ullay when investigators ordered 20 defendants to stand Wal. Among the 20 tilt wingers charged in the indict ment is Uricio Gelli. Cml of the p2 masonic Lodge that was outlawed in isl when parliamentary macs tin organization of top names cratic order in Italy tartly before the subversive Iverd. He was later jailed macs but he escaped and us in South America act Mcnol who a re Sti ii on c when the trial opens moly next year. Vic Ludd officials of be who were Mem tier members of ton denounced it As aimed a overthrowing d Gelli fled Italy in 1981 activities of he in Switzerland for is currently believe he and others a tl.i1 run will be Trie before a Bologna others named the italian militia Bers of the p2 ice a Jav. Right Wing extremist organizations. Gelli and nine others were Char association for to a Post of Lerron throw of Democrat Mil two of Hose nth Evdur others Are Nan in a massacre pro Nging to others were accused Only of belonging to a several of the right Wing extremists 01 trial Are already. A T murders committed in the late when Neo fascist gangs were organized As a other left Wing Terrons Gro immediately after the aug. 2, 1980, swirl Ujj in which most of the 85 killed and n a Fred were families setting August v ligation entered on Nghil Wingell remiss Bologna is a communist Ith subversive and the Over Jsck of taking armed band band. To stand Macks and ply 1980s, is to the bomb Ray 200 tons tie Dicks Laid Back biker App Bolo ii May not be Ideal for the tour a France but this Cycle developed to the University of Olden Burg Germany apparently provides relaxations Well u trans Portalios. The tricycle is and it steered by the front wheels. Ii it being studied for possible mass production. Foundation being investigated by Fri for alleged improprieties Washington
