Fewer Accidents

Fewer air accidents, in proportion to the number of planes flown, are happening. Last week the Department of Commerce, kindly Cerberus of U.S. aviation, issued its periodic statistics:

1st Half 2nd Half Increase 1928 1928

Pilots licensed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,535 4,887 92%

Accidents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390 672 70%

Deaths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 215 40%

Half the accidents occurred on miscellaneous pleasure flights, only 51 on scheduled commercial flights.

Due to the zealous work of the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce and the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics, newspapers now give no more emphasis to air accidents than to motor or train accidents. And seldom do they mention the name of the plane and motor in the crash. The idea of this censorship is to avoid scaring prospective airplane owners and riders, to protect the public's air-consciousness from unnecessary jars.