Oops!
NASA Withholding Troubling Safety Results
Anxious to avoid upsetting air travelers, NASA is withholding results from an unprecedented national survey of pilots that found safety problems like near collisions and runway interference occur far more frequently than the government previously recognized.
NASA gathered the information under an $8.5 million safety project, through telephone interviews with roughly 24,000 commercial and general aviation pilots over nearly four years. Since ending the interviews at the beginning of 2005 and shutting down the project completely more than one year ago, the space agency has refused to divulge the results publicly.
Just last week, NASA ordered the contractor that conducted the survey to purge all related data from its computers.
I wonder if a baggage airdrop would qualify as a “troubling safety result?” Of course, if your luggage should, for some mysterious reason, actually reach your destination on the same plane as you (ha ha, yeah, right!), you might be able to pay more to get it off the plane first.
Too bad there is not a “general law” that what our government does is reported in a constant and transparent way to the public?
Lets say the report is completely wrong. Publish it with a preamble and post script saying so and why.
Lets say the report is very troubling. Publish it with a preamble and post script saying so and what should be done to correct it.
Something terribly amiss that “any” work product of the government is destroyed.
People should go to jail for this—and much worse.
airlines already get away with murder, i’m not real suprised
I guess the taxpayers get what they pay for in an open, free, democratic country… except for this $8.5 million project, which is only about air safety after all.
I think it makes perfect sense to conceive the study, fund the study, do the study, write a report on the study, then make sure no-one ever gets a chance to read the report because it might upset air travelers.
Who are these people who get to make these kinds of ‘intelligent’ decisions affecting the rest of us? Do they also work part time as stand-up comedians?
–Who are these people who get to make these kinds of ‘intelligent’ decisions affecting the rest of us? Do they also work part time as stand-up comedians?–
A stand-up comedian would never set up an intricate joke and then leave off the punchline.
This is yet another way in which I see our government getting more and more like that of China. They simply want to control everything that we see and hear to assure they retain their power. The special interests from which they profit, and which assure their power, must be protected at all costs.
This data is only about the bad things – it was a safety program. There was a certain degree of immunity offered if you gave them information about an unintentional infraction or potential safety issue. It covered all aspects of aviation, not just commercial, and from what I understand, all information was shared with the FAA so they could address the issues. The FAA still reserved the right to nail your ass to the wall if it was a serious infraction.
You figure out how many pilots sent them information about uneventful and safe flights – there was no incentive. I have been in aviation and aviation safety investigation for the last 10 years, and I, nor anyone I know have ever filled out one of these reports, nor have we HAD to fill one out.
As soon as any information from this survey was released, CNN would run a 24 hour ticker “terror in our skies” and people would be having a freak out hearing about thousands of bubbas in their cesnas reporting altitude deviations. The wouldn’t be concerned about releasing it if everyone knew what they were looking at. I’m sure there are some serious infractions in there – and I’m also sure that safety issues have been addressed because of it.
The biggest thing I’ve learned in aviation safety investigation is that if you encourage a free and open exchange of information in a non-punitive environment then issues can be addressed and you have very cooperative pilots. If you come out the door with guns blazing in a punitive atmosphere – you’re on your own figuring out what happened, because there is not a soul out there who is going to talk to you. Good luck getting the real story and the cause of the accident – it just got a whole lot harder…
[sarcasm]
Our government wouldn’t lie to us!
[sarcasm]
I think they’re waiting for the White House to vet the report for Truthiness before its released.
Remember, what you don’t know can’t hurt you…
#5, Chad,
I’m sure there are some serious infractions in there – and I’m also sure that safety issues have been addressed because of it.
And how do we know these safety issues have been addressed? Surmising, hoping, and guessing does not translate into action. The other give away is that in your position you should be aware of any FAA memo on safety but you don’t point to any.
If I’m about to have an operation, don’t hide the report that suggests the surgeon has an extraordinary high number of routine procedure deaths because it might embarrass him.
If I’m about to buy a new car, don’t hide the report that suggests the one I’m interested in is unsafe because it might cost the company sales.
If I’m about to fly on a specific airline into a specific city then don’t hide the report that suggests that airline or city has a high rate of safety issues because it might embarrass someone.
#8 Not Lauren
Just one question for you. Do you disclose to everyone who rides in a car with you all your close calls? All the stop signs accidentally run, or other errors and misjudgements?
Do you tell your folks? I don’t because it would impact their attitudes about riding with me. You hear all the car stats and you still drive anyway. Right?
So now we get to frighten the passengers because things are so bad that we can’t report it, but we have no real basis for the fear!
That’s pretty fscked up in my opinion.
Flying is magic. There is no reason that those huge airplanes can stay in the air. It is the work of the devil I tell you. If god meant for us to fly he would have created planes 3000 years ago like the rest of the stuff he made. Like cars and bicycles.
NASA = Never a Straight Answer.
Aw c’mon. You don’t expect Bushco, Inc. to do anything to protect the PEOPLE, and not the corporations, now do you?
#8, Not Lauren the Ghoti:
I didn’t say you had to understand. I just told you why they wouldn’t release this information. Whenever something terrible happens, people stand around and say, “We want answers, how could this happen – NOW!” My point is that this is part of getting those answers easier – and hopefully, if at all humanly possible – answering that question before it’s ever brought up – before there’s a tragedy.
Inevitably the mistrust people have for anything that withholds more information will ensure that this information is released. It is also inevitable that after this information is released, you won’t get that answer you crave so easily, and it will be much less likely that such questions won’t get answered before it’s too late.
NASA has a long history of never telling the American people the truth about anything. You remember how the Viking life experiment came out positive, then they said it was some sort of mistake? Well, upon reviewing the data years later it was found that the ‘spurious chemistry’ in the soil was exhibiting a . . . circadian rhythm!
http://tinyurl.com/yvdlb4
mars.spherix.com/spie/SPIE2005HVD.pdf
Neat trick for ‘spurious chemistry’.
NASA = Never A Straight Answer
#14, Chad,
My point is that this is part of getting those answers easier – and hopefully, if at all humanly possible – answering that question before it’s ever brought up – before there’s a tragedy.
That contradicts NASA’s position. They have ordered all copies of the report destroyed. Not because there isn’t any useful information, but because it MIGHT cause some embarrassment. They have also refused the Associated Press access under the Freedom of Information Act.
From the ABC News report,
A senior NASA official, associate administrator Thomas S. Luedtke, said revealing the findings could damage the public’s confidence in airlines and affect airline profits.
…
“It gives us an awareness of not just the extent of the problems, but probably in some cases that the problems are there at all,” said William Waldock, a safety science professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Phoenix, Ariz. “If their intent is to just let it sit there, that’s just a waste.”
…
NASA said nothing it discovered in the survey warranted notifying the Federal Aviation Administration immediately.
…
Officials involved in the survey touted the unusually high response rate among pilots, 80 percent, and said they believe it is more reliable than other reporting systems that rely on pilots to voluntarily report incidents.
Do you note a bit of hypocrisy there? The report is being held because it might affect the airlines but there isn’t anything noteworthy in the report?
#9, Amill
Apples and oranges. When an automobile has a problem, it can usually pull over. There is no shoulder to pull over to at 20,000 feet. Also, I don’t charge my passengers to ride.
And I have had one moving violation in my life, in 1991. For going 54 in what I thought was a 55 but was actually a 45. I still possess a CDL and have over 500,000 miles without an accident even though I don’t drive professionally. So maybe your question is to the wrong person.
Y’know, it’s fascinating how many miss the underlying issue here.
By the time a critical mass of voters snaps to the fact that the US Gov’t is run not for their benefit, but that of Corporate America (actually, the investors in same), it’ll be way too late. Maybe it already is…
18. Lauren- for once, I completely agree with you. (well maybe twice).
It starts with just one or two… then it becomes a habit… 😉
20. There are good habits and bad habits…………
#21, mark,
20. There are good habits and bad habits…………
Are we about to hear a Nun joke?
23. You would if I had one, but I have nun……….
We made the mistake of flying from China to Brazil via the US (Shanghai -Chicago to Miami – Sao Paulo). I was shocked with the disorganised mess one needs to contend with in the US airports so this story does not surprise me at all. India was better organized! Interesting how people just get used to things as normal.
Cheers