When an Imperial Airlines Constellation crashed near Richmond, Va., last November killing 74 Army recruits (TIME, Nov. 17), the resulting clamor touched off a long overdue investigation of the nation's nonscheduled airlines, which last year flew 1.5 billion passenger miles v. 39.8 billion for the scheduled lines. Burgeoning after World War II as ex-military pilots bought dirt-cheap surplus cargo planes, the nonskeds grew like weeds and were treated with an air of benevolent indulgence by the federal regulatory agencies. Politicians championed the fare-cutting nonskeds as the little guys who were fighting...
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