recent case involving the safety provisions of the Civil Aeronautics Act, in which proceedings had been instituted by the Federal Government to impose a civil penalty for the operation by the defendant of an uncertificated aircraft on a civil airway (Rosenham v. United States, Circuit Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, decided November 16, 1942). The defendant offered to prove that the aircraft was certificated as airworthy by the Utah State Aeronautics Commission, that the operations of the aircraft had been exclusively intrastate, and that its operation on the airway had been at a time when there was no interstate traffic in the vicinity which could be affected by defendant's flight. The United States district court, however, entered judgment against the defendant on the pleadings and this decision was upheld by the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, on the ground that he might endanger safety in air commerce and Congress had acted in that field and that that was a valid action.

From the standpoint of the number of accidents per plane_or passenger-mile, commercial air operations are not dangerous. The safety record is impressive. But air accidents when they do occur are often serious. Their virtual elimination is worth every effort. One irresponsible private pilot, one mechanically faulty private plane, one careless plane mechanic, may mean the crash of a commercial airliner. Fairly strict uniform safety regulation, covering the entire field of air activity, is, therefore, essential. Certainly the inherently national character of aviation will exert its influence in favor of practically complete Federal regulation. There can be no serious disagreement as to the desirability of uniform regulation, no difference of opinion in the desire to benefit aviation, and I think few, indeed, will doubt the constitutional authority of the Federal Government to meet the Nation's need in this new and important field.

F. THE DEVELOPMENT OF AIRPORTS

The problem of securing an adequate number of safe airports is an important part of the aviation picture. While jurisdiction in that field is largely vested in the Administrator of Civil Aeronautics, in view of the relation which airports bear to the economic development of air transportation, it is appropriate for me to comment on the subject in a general way.

Highways were indispensable to the entire development of the automobile industry, and without them we would not have secured the economic and social benefits flowing from the use of the automobile. The airport bears an analogous relationship to aviation. Both the needs and specific methods of meeting them are difficult to foresee. We are accustomed to thinking of one airport or two or three for locality, but the capacity of airports is definitely limited. As there are many roads for every locality, there must be, and will be, I prophesy, many airports, probably different ones for different types of operations. Landing fields, far removed from the centers of cities, cause delay in a mode of travel where speed is of the essence. Overhead landing platforms in the hearts of cities may be the answer here. Landing strips at factory sites for air cargo seems probable. Landing fields for suburbs, special fields for special types of institutions and organizations, both public and private, may well develop.

G. AIRPORT ZONING

Another airport problem which thus far has rested for solution with the States is that of assuring that aerial approaches to airports shall be safe and free from obstructions. A related problem is that of assuring that airports will not be abated as nuisances at the suit of surrounding property owners, which has occurred in isolated cases. Our most careful plans for the development of aviation can be frustrated if appropriate provision is not made to secure maximum safety and utility in operation at airports. The factors which I have previously outlined as a basis for Federal safety regulation of all flying appear to require that careful study be given to the feasibility of providing the Federal action necessary to insure uniform and reasonable regulation of structures and objects adjacent to airports.

H. NON-COMMON-CARRIER OPERATIONS

The prospect, to which I have previously referred, of thousands of young men, trained in some phase of aviation, returning to civil life at the close of the war has its own special problem. We all recall the so-called "barnstorming" days of aviation which followed World War I. We may well expect a somewhat similar tendency at the close of the present war, which will be accentuated by the large number of aircraft now used for military purposes, but available for conversion to peacetime uses after the war. Due to the more mature stage of aviation now, however, it can be expected that the development will not be simply along the lines of sightseeing flights or similar operations, but that many of these individuals, to the extent that they are not absorbed into the organizations of the regular airlines, will seek to engage in the carriage of passengers and cargo for hire. The problem will not be simply one of safety, but could be a substantial economic one. Inasmuch as there is no existing provision in the Civil Aeronautics Act for the economic regualtion of persons operating by air who do not operate as common carriers, some measures of economic control over non-common-carrier operations may be necessary to avoid chaotic conditions in the industry. And I notice in that connection an important provision in your bill. We commented upon the needed regulation in this field in our annual report.

I. AVIATION EDUCATION

Aviation's future role requires that we give the most careful attention to aviation education-this again is in the Administrator's field, but it is so important that I feel justified in commenting upon it briefly. The youth of the Nation, as its future leaders, must be prepared to utilize this new economic and political force. The Civil Aeronautics Administration has already embarked on a program of training in schools and colleges in the technical phases of aviation. Courses in the economics of air transportation are attracting increasing interest in colleges. Every effort it seems to me should be made to devise a program to foster this phase of aviation's future.

IX. CONCLUSION

The war has demonstrated, if the proposition needed proof, that it is of profound importance to the future of the Nation and the world that with respect to aviation the Congress legislate wisely, and the executive agencies vested with jurisdiction administer the laws with care and understanding. The law, particularly that embodied in regulatory statutes, may well determine the degree of our success in achieving the maximum use of aviation's possibilities.

I think, Mr. Chairman, that completes the general statement I had to offer. I will be delighted to endeavor to answer any questions. If I do not have the answers, I will try to get them.

The CHAIRMAN. We will now adjourn until tomorrow at 10 a. m.
Mr. BOREN. Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Boren.

Mr. BOREN. Will you permit me to make one suggestion before we adjourn?

The CHAIRMAN. Certainly.

Mr. BOREN. It has occurred to me that it would be of interest to this committee if we had a graph as a part of your statement, showing the air accidents, as related to air passenger-miles, or man-miles, or whatever you may call it, having that graph drawn, if possible, to indicate not only the accidents which have occurred since the enactment of this law, but perhaps going back somewhat behind that.

Mr. POGUE. I would be glad to have that prepared.

(The material referred to appears at the end of today's hearing.) Mr. BOREN. Is that agreeable?

The CHAIRMAN. Following witnesses who are to appear here we will go into a more detailed discussion of these matters, including the proposed changes in the law. So, we will have a more detailed discussion of all of these proposals that are included in the bill, and suggestions that may be made for legislation, and also covering the safety problems and whatever other problems that are involved.

Mr. BOREN. I thought that that might be of interest.
The CHAIRMAN. That is all right.

Mr. WOLVERTON. Mr. Chairman.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Wolverton.

Mr. WOLVERTON. Mr. Pogue, I think it would be helpful at the conclusion of this statement which you have given and which I may say is a very complete and informative statement, to have set forth the different departments or bureaus, or divisions that come under the agency, together with the number of persons engaged in each, who is at the head, and the general scope of their work, so that we may have a short résumé of just what the Civil Aeronautics Board does and by what means it accomplishes its purposes.

Mr. POGUE. I shall be glad to supply that.

(The material referred to appears at the end of today's hearing.) The CHAIRMAN. The committee will adjourn until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning.

(Thereupon, at 11:50 a. m., the committee adjourned to meet at 10 a. m. the following day, Wednesday, February 3, 1943.)

REVENUE

MILES FLOWN PER FATAL ACCI

DENT AND PASSENGER FATALITIES PER

100,000,000 PASSENGER MILES

Revenue miles and passenger miles estimated for August, September, and October 1942.

Comparative air carrier safety statistics in domestic, international, and territorial operations for the fiscal years 1936 through 1942 1