AIR TRANSPORT DURAND 529 



of air-transport hazard to a point comparable with the safest of land- 

 transport means. There are too many additional avenues of potential 

 hazard. On the other hand, there is hazard in all agencies of trans- 

 port, a hazard in automobile transport for example ; but we do not on 

 that account hesitate to freely employ the automobile. In comparison 

 with the service which it stands ready to afford, we accept this means 

 of transport, with such marginal hazard as there may be. In the same 

 way, it is obvious that the air-traveling public now accepts such 

 measure of hazard as may inhere in this mode of transport, in view of 

 the service which the airplane is prepared to offer. And in this 

 respect, I believe that we may look for continuing improvement in all 

 of these matters affecting the safety and security of air transport ; and 

 that with the continued application of the resources of science and 

 art to these problems, the residual margin of hazard in this form of 

 transport will be reduced to a point where it will be accepted rather 

 generally and without hesitation in view of the service which it is 

 prepared to render — possibly with almost the same readiness with 

 w^hich we now use the automobile in the affairs of our everyday life. 

 In this connection some figures published in the last report of the 

 National Safety Council will be of interest. They are admittedly 

 based on incomplete and somewhat uncertain data, but may perhaps 

 be accepted as showing the general trend. The figures in column A 

 are passenger fatalities per 100,000,000 miles of travel ; those in column 

 B, total fatalities, including operating personnel. 



B 



Railroad trains 0. 09 9. 9 



Automobiles and buses 4.5 7.8 



Scheduled air-transport planes 10. 1 13. 6 



Nonscheduled planes 162. 2 165. 2 



Thus, according to these figures, the hazard in scheduled air trans- 

 port planes is about twice that in automobiles and buses and about 

 100 times greater than in railroad trains. It may also be noted that 

 these figures are based on total estimated mileages as follows: 



Railroad trains 22, 460, 000, 000 



Automobiles and buses 408,000,000,000 



Scheduled air-transport planes 435, 740, 000 



Nonscheduled planes 99, 900, 000 



The time which I should occupy in this address is near its term. 

 Perhaps, however, I should say a word regarding lighter-than-air- 

 craft, the airship. The tragic end of the Hindeiiburg is still fresh 

 in our minds as well as our own story of disaster in the Shenandoah^ 



