Safety First

To oldtime pilots, a good landing was any one from which they could walk away. The trouble with today's passenger-crammed jets is that too many people do not get a chance to walk away -- even from crashes that the Federal Aviation Administration classifies as "survivable." Six years ago, for example, when a DC-8 with hydraulic-pressure trouble swerved off the runway at Denver's Stapleton Field and hit a concrete obstruction, 16 persons suffocated because the emergency exits clogged after fuel from ruptured lines fed a fire in the cabin. Two years ago, another 41 died in a similar accident that involved a 727 jet in Salt Lake City. Since 1961, in fact, more than 270 persons have been killed in survivable landing or takeoff accidents.

Last week the FAA announced some stringent new regulations aimed at improving passenger safety. In all, the agency spelled out 39 changes in equipment and flight procedures to take effect over the next two years.* They involve not only planes already in service but the supersized air buses and supersonic jets that will soon be hauling more passengers than ever. Some minor changes will be mandatory as soon as next month: seat backs, for instance, must be straight up and not tilted back during approaches and takeoffs, and stewardesses must be stationed near exits at those times to provide faster assistance in the event of an emergency.

Two Abreast Unseating. More difficult and expensive changes will be put into effect over the next two years. Fuel lines will be shrouded from electric power lines to cut down the possibility of fire: 75% of cabin lights will be designed to remain lit even though a fuselage is broken open, and cabin interiors will be built of "self-extinguishing" materials. Airplane manufacturers--who have, after all, been overcrowding cabins only because "high-density" seating is what the airlines demand--will have to prove to the FAA that all passengers can be evacuated from a new design in 90 sec., rather than the 120 sec. presently required. If necessary, Jumbo planes will do it by means of 72-in. by 42-in. exits, through which passengers can escape two abreast.

Seats next to emergency exits are already required to fold forward to make the exits reachable. After investigating 18 survivable accidents, however, the FAA discovered that few passengers were aware of the fold-down procedure. From now on, areas adjacent to emergency exits will be kept completely clear of seats. The FAA estimates that total seat space will be reduced 4% by this change, and by another order that clear space must also be provided for stewardesses to station themselves beside the doors. The cost, say the airlines, may be as much as $700,000,000 less in passenger revenue. But Deputy FAA Administrator Clifford Walker is unconcerned. "I put no dollar sign on this," he said as he announced the changes. "It's a program to save the lives of passengers."

*In another air-safety move, President Johnson requested $7,000,000 from Congress to hire and train 900 additional FAA air-traffic controllers to help sort increasingly heavy airplane traffic and prevent mid-air collisions. The President also asked Transportation Secretary Alan S. Boyd to draw up a long-term safety program, whose estimated $5 billion cost for "facilities, equipment and personnel" would be largely financed out of user charges.

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