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Most cogent analysis of the situation from the aviator's point of view was presented by Swanee Taylor, oldtime flyer and associate editor of Popular Aviation, in an article in New York's World-Telegram: "Probably 80% of airplane crack-ups can be traced to errors of judgment, misplaced zeal, overconfidence or out-and-out stupidity on the part of the man at the controls. . . . Disaster does not spring at a pilot out of nowhere. Physical equipment is superb, and engines . . . give ample warning when they are getting tired enough to quit. . . . Bad weather used to be a popular alibi for crackups, but it doesn't go any more in the best aviation circles. Most experts believe a pilot should be able to master any climatic conditions he encounters, or have sense enough to turn and run when he pokes into a zero-zero situation. Our American weather-reporting service is atrocious, but the airlines have established their own weather depots covering their routes, and a pilot can find out whether soupy weather is ahead just by ordering his radioman to get in touch with the ground and ask. . . .
"One cruel imposition on the pilots is the much-touted radio beam. . . . Never particularly efficient, it places the entire burden of navigation on the pilot. The beam . . . is a tiny needle of radio impulse extending out into space, a few miles wide at its best. . . . Once you are off the track, you need to be a master mathematician to find your way back; and permit me to observe that there is no agony more piercing than that endured while careening along in a gray mist at 150 m.p.h. in search of a radio beam—the air, meanwhile, buzzing with extraneous signals which you are supposed to ignore. The solution . . . is to direct navigation from the ground through direction-finder stations similar to those used by the Navy and Coast Guard. Pan American Airways has used this system for years and never lost a ship since they started it.* When one of its pilots wants to know where he is, he merely dot-dashes a question. Two ground stations figure out by triangulation his exact position and wireless it back to him. . . ."