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Show Cheap Flying Schools According to no less an authority than Colonel Lindgerg.i, cheap flying schools are responsible for a large percentage per-centage of civil airplane deaths, of which no less than 153 occured during . the last six months of 1928 in the United States, while 276 persons were Injured in the same series of accidents. In some of these low priced schools, it Is said that students are "graduateu" with only about ten hours experience as solo flyers. Of course, such men can not obtain Federal licenses as pilots, but in many states they are permitted to engage in carrying passengers so long as they do not cross state lines. Colonel Lindbergh declares that excessive ex-cessive numbers of accidents may be expected as long as .federal inspectors have no control over intrastate pilots, or until each state adopts standards as high as those of the Federal government. govern-ment. This view is borne out by the fact that of the 153 deaths noted above only six occured in licensed and inspected airplanes flying over scheduled routes. Many of the old planes used by pilots who travel over the country taking up people who make a flight merely for the "fun" of it, are veritable deathtraps, death-traps, often antiquated machines left over from the war or discarded as out of date. So long as the cheap flying school and the rattletrap airplane are allowed to function, . we may expect to see a continuance of the heavy toll of lives for which they are responsible. |