WHAT’S UP WITH N.A.S.A. AND THE AIR SAFETY REPORT?

I just read an A.P. story about a publicly funded air traffic safety study conducted by NASA that apparently found issues, but they won’t release the report, and in fact have instructed the survey contractor to purge the data from their computers.

Well, that’s piqued my curiosity. And by the way, WHAT’S THAT HORRIBLE ODOR?

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. Luedtke acknowledged that the survey results "present a comprehensive picture of certain aspects of the U.S. commercial aviation industry."

Okay, so we have an air traffic safety survey conducted over 4 years with telephone interviews of about 24,000 pilots, at a cost of $8.5 million (borne by the public, not the airline industry), and NASA won’t release it because it might hurt the airline industry by damaging their profits?

I don’t like flying as it is. Now I like it even less. There’s something terribly rotten around here somewhere.

It's well worth reading the whole story. Here's a link. Also, thanks to Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters.

It seems to me that if Congress was really interested in investigating something worthwhile, this would be a worthy subject.

But I won't hold my breath. I think I'll notify my Congress-critter, though.

Have a nice day, and stay out of airplanes, children.