Oct. 29, 2014
NBAA responded swiftly this week to a “biased [and] sensationalist” article published in USA Today, alleging that general aviation (GA) manufacturers and federal regulators have deliberately withheld safety improvements to reduce the risk of post-impact aircraft fires.
In his Oct. 27 article “Investigation: Post-crash fires in small planes cost 600 lives,” writer Thomas Frank asserts that concerns over equipment costs have prevented manufacturers from improving post-impact fire safety in GA aircraft.
“On behalf of the more than 10,000 Member Companies of the National Business Aviation Association using general aviation as a safe mode of transportation across the country and around the globe,” wrote NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen in a response to the newspaper’s letters editor. “I find it unfortunate that USA Today has again published what seems to be a biased, sensationalist opinion piece [that] paints an unfair and inaccurate portrait of our industry, rather than presenting an objective and fact-based analysis of the many facets that have contributed to safer GA operations over the past several years.
“Specifically,” Bolen added, “I find it particularly unsettling that the report was published without any reference to the most recent data from the National Transportation Safety Board published last month that GA safety is, in fact, the strongest it has ever been.”
Review Bolen’s full letter to the editor.
Bolen joined with other aviation stakeholders in aggressively challenging the misinformation presented in the article, which was the second one to paint a negative picture of GA safety this year by the national newspaper. On June 18, USA Today published “Unfit for Flight,” also written by Frank, which implied GA flying operations are inherently unsafe.
Earlier this year, 71 newspapers owned by The Gannett Company – which also owns USA Today – ran all or part of “Unfit for Flight,” and each one of those publications received an editorial response by NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen setting the record straight.
Learn more about NBAA’s response to the USA Today series “Unfit for Flight.”
As with that earlier series, NBAA is again working to ensure that its position is clear in any outlet that publishes all or a portion of this latest USA Today report. That included sending Bolen’s response to the editorial staffs of other Gannett-owned print publications, radio and television stations.
“Improving post-impact fire safety is certainly a top priority for our industry,” Bolen concluded in his latest letter to the editor. “Rather than promoting an effective discussion on an important safety matter, however, for the second time in four months USA Today has chosen to portray instead an incomplete, and above all negative image about the safety of general aviation across the U.S.”
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.