Category: In The News

A new study emphasizes the need for more regulations and safety measures to protect crew and passengers

by: NICOLE KARLIS

From a fatality standpoint, flying is safer than ever: Airplane crashes have decreased in the last few decades. Still, from a public health standpoint, flying may not be that great for your long-term health.

A new study suggests that flight crews face other life-threatening dangers on the job aside from the extremely unlikely chance of a crash. According to a study published in Environmental Health, flight attendants have elevated rates of several cancers — including breast cancer, melanoma, and non-melanoma skin cancers.

“Our findings of higher rates of several cancers among flight attendants is striking given the low rates of overweight and smoking in our study population, which highlights the question of what can be done to minimize the adverse exposures and cancers common among cabin crew,” said Irina Mordukhovich, a research fellow at Harvard Chan School and the corresponding author of the paper, in a press release about the study.

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It’s the Miracle on the Hudson, when Captain Sully Sullenberger landed this plane safely in frigid water. But he now he tells Hank it took more than his skills to save lives that day. Hank uncovers the next flight you take may not have the safety equipment you’d expect. Hank Investigates.

It’s still heart stopping to watch-

Captain Sully Sullenberger: “We may be in the Hudson.”

Captain Sully Sullenberger, in the cockpit, was the one who called mayday for Flight 1549.

Captain Sullenberger: “We’re going into the Hudson.”

With amazing skill, Sullenberger ditches the plane. The passengers, some wearing life vests, escape onto the wings, and into these rafts. Everyone is safe.

Captain Sullenberger: “I’m so grateful that everyone involved rose to the occasion that day.”

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If we go down this road, I’m worried about access. I’m worried about equitability. And, I’m worried about safety.

While nothing can fully prepare one for an emergency, such as when my crew and I landed Flight 1549 in the Hudson River eight years ago, it was a lifetime of experience that we each drew upon to enable us to face that sudden ultimate challenge.

I learned to fly just over 50 years ago. The Wright Brothers first flew 114 years ago this December, so I’ve been flying for nearly half of the entire history of aviation. I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t.

I care deeply about being able to fly, about people’s access to aviation, every facet of aviation. Many people don’t know that most of aviation is not commercial airline flying. That’s how a lot of people travel, but in terms of total airplanes and numbers of operations, there’s much more to aviation in this country.

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If we go down this road, I’m worried about access. I’m worried about equitability. And, I’m worried about safety.

We have a wonderful, unique freedom and privilege in this country — an unfettered aviation system that anyone can participate in safely and efficiently. Simply put, our aviation system is the biggest, the best and the most diverse in the world. And it is constantly improving. In most other countries, it’s either too restrictive or too expensive for an average person to fly, and the only way one can fly is to go on an airliner or a military flight. Yet, if you hear the commercial airlines lately, they are telling all of us that these are exactly the types of systems they want to emulate in their drive to privatize air traffic control.

The airlines are making a push in Congress to take this big, diverse, national asset that serves so many different communities, aircraft and purposes and put it under the control of a narrow board that would run air traffic control according to their own interest. They say it would be easier to manage — but easier for whom? They want to remove oversight of the air traffic control system from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Congress, and give it to a narrow group of stakeholders dominated by the largest airlines. That benefits only the largest airlines, not the American people.

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An instant may have transformed Captain Sullenberger into an American hero, but the pilot has devoted a lifetime to keeping airline passengers safe and secure

Since Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger performed the astonishing feat now known as the “Miracle on the Hudson,” he’s been speaking out about safety within the aviation industry as well as how to best improve health practices. Now that he has more of a platform, he uses it to increase awareness about certain procedures and act as a mouthpiece for the industry.

Sully says, “I learned to fly 50 years ago, and the Wright Brothers first flew 114 years ago this December. So I’ve been involved in aviation for 44 percent of its entire history, and I know what works and what doesn’t. Now I just have a greater voice about things I’ve cared about my entire life.”

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One of the things Congress must do in the next two months is pass legislation reauthorizing the existence of the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates air traffic in the United States and is operating under a law that expires Sept. 30. A bill that would privatize the air traffic control system has been introduced in the House; the Senate is considering a different version. Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who famously piloted US Airways Flight 1549 to an emergency landing in the Hudson River in 2009, has some serious concerns about how these bills would affect the safety of aviation and access to air travel. He recently spoke with Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric.

The following article is a condensed transcript of the conversation.

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