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The same economic factors that can make planes somewhat less "airworthy" than they might otherwise be, also stand to make them somewhat less "crashworthy." To dress up the cabin, the manufacturers have put in nylon and Dacron seat covers, soundproofing and rugs; the stuff may be pleasing to the passengers' eyes and pay off in ticket sales, but it can generate black, toxic fumes in a fire. To save weight, and make easy changes in the cabin configuration, seats are not moored to the floor as firmly as possible. Stewardess training is sometimes more of a brief charm school than a careful safety course. The lines have also handled safety drills and demonstrations in the cabin casually for fear of scaring away passengers. Recently, United pilots began to urge passengers to "pay strict attention" to the drills, but so many people complained that the announcements were quietly discontinued.
Modern jets are so powerful that most of them can fly with just about all the passengers and baggage that can be crowded into them. The current trend is to take advantage of this load-carrying ability with "high density" seating. To cut back on that might cause a rise in fares; it might also mean a rise in safety. Though all the passengers survived the crack-up of a United 727 at Salt Lake City, 42 died in the fire because they could not break through the crowded aisles to the few escape hatches. Criticizing what he calls "sardine seating," United Airlines Chairman William A. Patterson asks: "In all good conscience, just how many passengers can you squeeze aboard a plane?"
Experts figure that they could reduce the number of crash deaths by 50% if they could prevent fires. The airlines, the military, the FAA, CAB and NASA are all hard at work on just that problem. They are developing a "very promising" jellied fuel that burns slowly and does not leak from ruptured tanks. The Pentagon and the FAA are experimenting with "tough wall" tanks made of nylon and polyurethane; when a tough-wall helicopter was slammed against a jagged rock at 100 Gs, the crash left only a one-eighth-inch crack. Airlines are also experimenting with a fire-resistant foam, which would automatically flood the fuselage after a crash and protect the passengers.
The industry's desire is not merely to cut the losses in accidents but to improve an already sound record by cutting the accident rate. What the airlines want most is a modern, fail-safe, all-weather traffic-control system. As a first requirement, they need better airports. Of the 709 commercial-airline fields in the U.S., fewer than one half have instrument-landing systems. Worldwide, in 1963, 80% of landing accidents occurred where only 17% of the landings were made—at airports with marginal landing aids. In the developing countries, safety records are far less impressive than in the U.S.