Flying Safe?

School Library Journal

Gr 6 Up An informative and balanced appraisal of air safety. The approach is historical, from the first air crash with a fatality in 1907 to the worst-ever 1985 Japan Air Lines disaster. For students with a general interest in flying or large-scale calamities, there is nothing comparable at this level. Lampton discusses the contributions of technology to safety and considers factors in accidents: design faults, maintenance lapses, human error, terrorism, wind shear. The politics of federal regulation, including the development of the CAA, CAB, FAA, and the clash of government and traffic controllers in 1981, is a fascinating story, but it requires careful reading as the history itself is so confusing. One chapter offers sensible suggestions on how to survive. There are many black-and-white illustrations of crash sitesalmost too many. The author supplies facts upon facts, statistics upon statistics which, while they contribute to a comprehensive treatment, also make the writing somewhat dry. Libby K. White, Schenectady County Public Library N.Y.