European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 19, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes James j. K1lpatrick Clouds of danger hang Over the Friendly skies those who travel by air within the United stain May Lake much re Assurance from the Panl 18 report of the aviation safety commission. For Many of us much reassurance is needed. The skies arc Tare the commission pro vide impressive data to prove ii bul they May not stay Safe for Long. In its evenhanded evaluation of cur rent Levels of safety this is a Calm and sensible report. In its recommendations for bureaucratic Reform the report fails to convince. More on that in a moment. The commission begins by acknowledging a widespread perception hat safety problems arc growing. Many Pas sengers have an uneasy feeling that since the deregulation acl of 1978, airlines have been cutting Comers on maintenance. There is much conc can about Pilot error. Are the overworked air traffic controllers constantly on i hair toes not to worry. True a bad Accident could happen tomorrow or the next Day but he commission s figures Tell a Gratifying Story. The years since deregulation on the record have been even safer than the years before deregulation. Between 1978 and 1987. Passenger volume soared from 254 million to More than 400 million. Aircraft departures increased by 27 per cent. The skies were More crowded than Ever and Tor a critical part of this Perm the control Lowers were operating with emergency Crews. Look at the record of major airlines from 197010 1978 before deregulation and compare it Wilh the period of 1979 87. The number of airline accidents fell from 427 in the first period to 317 in the second. Despite the dramatic increase in Pas sengers fatalities were fewer. Serious in jury accidents were Down 56 percent. The Post deregulation record of com Muter carriers paralleled the big Carrier. Concern about negligent maintenance said the commission is thus far unfounded the rate of accidents attributed to mechanical failure has dropped precipitately. Similarly the rate of accidents owing to Pilot or Crew errors has dropped by half. There is no evidence that the air traffic control system has functioned less safely after deregulation than  As for near collisions the data arc inconclusive. The appearance of a worsening Situa Tion May be the result of changes in reporting procedures. The number of Carl Rowan operational errors is up. But a Large majority of these errors did not pose an immediate and real danger to safety nevertheless Clouds of danger hang Over the Friendly skies. The Federal aviation administration faces serious problems in recruiting and holding the personnel on whom airline safety con stantly depends. Under Federal rules the Faa cannot pay higher salaries to controllers who work in areas Wilh exceptionally High costs of living. It is extremely difficult to place the most  controllers where they arc most needed. Under civil service pay Scales the Faa cannot compete with the private sector for engineers and test pilots. Bureaucratic delays run Ning into Many months and years pre vent modernization of Faa regulations. As a remedy the commission recommends Radical changes in the Structure of the government s role. The existing Faa would be abolished to be replaced by a new Federal aviation authority. The authority would have two Heads an administrator and a director of aviation safely both to be nominated by the president and con firmed by the Senate for seven year terms. Over them would be a new nine member Board of governors including both the administrator and the director and these also would be subject to confirmation. Within the Board would be a safety committee of five members. The committee would have appellate authority to overturn decisions of the director. And so on. The proposed restructuring May look great to the commission but it has All the appearance of replace ing one cumbersome bureaucracy with another. The divided Power Given to the administrator and the new safety Czar provide an invitation to conflict. We ought to be sure of where we Are going wore a new authority is Given Power to ignore All Federal rules of personnel and procurement. The present system by which the Faa operates through the department of transportation May not be Ideal bul it provides & Check against the free Wheeling autonomy of an Independent Agency. Taken As a whole the commission � report merits Praise clearly the prob lems of air travel Are piling up like cumulus Clouds. No storm is immediately at hand. The skies Hill Are Safe. The responsibility of Congress and the while House is to keep them that Way  Pic Reyrat Tutu Pentagon s restraint in time of crisis reassuring Washington an enduring cliche Here and across America is that the Pentagon is full of admirals and generals who Are chomping at the bit to use their lethal playboys on some weak nation somewhere. While it is True that our military leaders often go overboard in asking for outrageously costly often unworkable weapons systems it is a Gross slander to suggest that hey Are irresponsible warmonger. The truth is that Pentagon leaders including the joint chiefs of staff have been remarkably responsible in opposing some harebrained ideas and operations promoted by me stale department the Cia and operatives within the White House. In 1982 the nation s military leaders argued against playing Footsie Wilh Israel and its invasion of Lebanon including its military barrage of Beirut. The joint chiefs argued that to put . Marines into Beirut would be Folly leaving the marines exposed in a no win situation. The Pentagon was overruled the marines were sent to Lebanon where in october of 1983, 241 of them died before the . Pulled them out in a moment of National humiliation. Now Pentagon leaders and the joint chiefs Are fighting off schemes pushed by the slate department of All places to use military pressures and perhaps an old fashioned invasion to wrest Power in Panama from the ruthless grip of Gen. Manuel Anto Nio Noriega. Some military leaders Are saying so Onega s a bad Guy accused of drug peddling and even murder. But Sli Ould the . Be in such haste to overthrow him that it takes military Steps that would Lead to the deaths of Many american youths to the destruction or a lot of american property in Panama and perhaps to sabotage of the Panama canal it is remarkable that America s military leaders in Dan and better than the diplomats at stale the Poison Ous fallout out would result from . Military intervention in Panama. Some if not All of the joint chiefs know that however much latin Ament Fly May despise Noriega they hate . Intervention even More. President Reagan is said to have expressed great uneasiness about the colossus of the North pouring combat troops into Little Panama. The . Military has worked hard to build up Friendly cooperative relationships with the military Leaden of latin countries giving them training at West Point the naval Academy and at bases Crais the United states but chasms of cultural differences economic resent ments and Overall distrust still Mark these relation ships. A . Invasion of Panama would wipe out whatever remains useful in the . Latin military connection. Noriega knows this which is Why he gives fiery rationalistic speeches in which he Coria pcs Uncle Sam his big bully to the  we All ought to sleep a bit belter knowing that our Pentagon is not dominated by guns Lingen who argue to practice War at the flimsiest pretence or the slightest provocation. North Artic is us cartoon the opinions expressed in the Colu on this Page represent Tho of the authors to it in now a to be considered n representing the a few of the Stan and stripes or do in ill states Gorton men