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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 2258.PDF
An NAMC YS-II has recently performed a 20-day series of intensive route-proving flights. Among the points visited was Miyazaki, where it is seen here during turnround SAFETY RESEARCH SURVEYED THE Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Aviation Centre at Cornell University (established 14 years ago as an independent body to serve as a catalyst and co-ordinating agency in the field of aviation safety) has just issued a report listing almost 400 research projects which it has initiated, with various organizations around the world, to study aspects of aircraft design, operation and aircrew conditions affecting safety. The report also draws attention to ten "most important areas for further action." These are (not necessarily in order of importance):— (1) Loss of control, and turbulence: Because several fatal accidents to jet transports appear to have occurred through loss of control, the Foundation suggests that storm activity, radar interpretation, clear-air gusts, aircraft handling qualities, pilot training and other related factors should be given intensive study in the light of the recent occurrences. (2) Airport and navigational aids: In common with the UK Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators' recent report on navigation-aid deficiencies around the world, the Guggenheim Foundation notes that this is not a situation requiring research, but the provision of money and trained personnel in countries which may not be able to afford them from their own resources. (3) Economics of safety: The report notes that the application of such safety features as stronger seat-belts, runway barriers, improved weather services and so forth ought only to be considered in the light of their ultimate cost and safety effectiveness. Therefore, a study of the monetary investment, the economic losses from accidents, and the economic returns from the investment in safety has been proposed to evaluate the cost benefit of safety measures. (4) Occupant protection: Accident investigations, says the report, have brought to light as contributory causes to the loss of life, poor seat design, limited exits, lack of emergency lighting, and insufficient crew training for passenger handling during emergencies. As well as the need for further testing to improve all aspects of cabin design for safety the report calls for more realistic testing taking account of the usual type of passenger load that almost invariably includes children and the aged and infirm. (5) Crash fire protection: It is noted that fires still accompany take-off and landing accidents, and in view of the greater exposure to loss of life as the size of aircraft increases the report suggests the need for more attention to be given to providing inherent fire resistance during the design stage of aircraft manufacture. Being studied are methods of containing fuel under impact conditions by coagulating it into a jelly to prevent spilling; also under review are ways of inerting ignition sources or of applying fast-acting extinguishants to them. (6) Weather forecasting: Studies are under way to improve the reduction of meteorological data into forms even more usable to Pilots, but more funds and research are needed to take advantage of such recent new devices as computer techniques and satellite observations. <7) V/STOL development: Predicting the development of V/STOL transports for widespread applications to short-haul routes, the report recommends that safety research be started now—into aspects of stability control and powerplant reliability, because this "oes not involve going beyond the present state of the art. (8) General aviation: Though some aspects of general aviation have achieved relatively good safety records, others have been poor. The report notes that some 81,000 aircraft are now active and flown by about 400,000 active pilots a total of nearly 2,000m miles a year. These impressive figures were achieved at a cost of some 477 fatal accidents during 1963, resulting in 900 deaths. Inability to fly safely in bad weather continued to be the main cause of fatal accidents. Principal areas for improving the record are thought to lie in: better initial and refresher flight training; more attention on weather information and services; better aircraft stability and control, either inherent or through simple autopilots. (9) Collision avoidance: Though the number of collisions has been less, the potential remains high, and the report suggests the development of a proximity warning indicator. (10) Component reliability: With the increasing complexity of airliner systems, it is suggested that thought be given to simplifying and adapting some of the "countdown" techniques used in spaceflight to improve the check-out and monitoring of airliner system performance and reliability during everyday operations. ALITALIA AND NOISES IN THE NIGHT SOME time next week Alitalia may exceed its allowance of night- time (23OO-O7OOhr) jet movements at London Heathrow for the period April 1 to October 31. Its services scheduled to arrive or depart during the restricted period are accordingly threatened with diversion to Gatwick; impounding of aircraft for "trespass"; rescheduling; or cancellation. The situation has arisen because the airline felt that the formula for allocating the limited number of 5,500 night jet movements fixed by the Ministry of Aviation in the interests of noise abatement was "discriminatory and unacceptable," and has therefore con- tinued to operate through the summer regardless of the ultimate restriction. For several years the system of proportioning movements has worked without major difficulty, the available movements being proportioned according to the total extent to which each airline used the airport during the previous summer. Any movements not taken up by the airline to which they are first offered are then re-allocated—by the scheduling committee of the 13 or so airlines with night flights—to those still wanting more. In the past there have been enough movements to go round. In 1962 Alitalia was allocated 600 movements and last year 835. But this year, owing to the greater use of jets and the fact that the effective number of noisy movements has not increased (an increase of 700 j et movements from 4,800 in 1963 was to allow certain airlines to substitute jets for their noisier piston-engined types) nearly every airline took up its original allocation, leaving a number of operators with fewer than in previous years—including Alitalia, with only 480 movements. In a statement last week the Ministry of Aviation said that the Minister was not prepared to increase the authorized total of night jet movements at Heathrow for this year. Negotiations on the problem—which threatens seriously to curtail Alitalia's important night tourist flights to Rome and Milan, amounting to some 40 movements a week—are between the MoA and the Italian civil aviation authorities, who have threatened to apply similar restric- tions to BEA and BOAC at Rome Fiumicino.
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