Books in Brief: Loud and Clear

Loud and Clear: The Full Answer to Aviation’s Vital Question: Are the Jets Really Safe? by Robert J. Serling (Doubleday, $5.95). In the age of Ralph Nader, one tends to suspect the motives of any person claiming to probe an area important to consumers. But drawing upon years of experience as UPI aviation editor and losing perspective only when taking swipes at general aviation, Serling presents a compelling look at jet-age safety: “The art of reducing risk to the least possible chance of occurrence.” One learns, for instance, that airlines and their crews suggest about as many safety-oriented aircraft design changes as the FAA itself. Serling has the highest praise for pilot training, but notes that badly needed emergency training for stewardesses has come only in the last four to six years. After reading his detailed descriptions of emergency evacuation, no air traveler will again fail to read the seat pocket information card. This is particularly important because Serling points out that both the airlines and the FAA have been laggard in solving the problem of fire on impact. Serling adds that the other dreaded, much-discussed problem, crowded skies, relates mostly to the ten airports from which 50 per cent of all air travelers take off—and that only at peak hours or in bad weather. He has no patience for those aviation critics, especially in Congress, who demand stupid “reforms” the morning after accidents— particularly when the airlines and the FAA have come a long way and are on the verge of greater strides.