An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.
Nasa withholds safety stats
Our Public tax dollars (8.5 million to be exact) are spent on a safety survey of our national air transportation system. The results are gathered and a report is written. Next I should be writing that the report is released to the airlines, the public and any other agency that contributes to the safety of our air travel; unfortunately I can’t write that because
NASA REFUSES TO RELEASE THEIR AIR SAFETY SURVEY
The officials state that the information “could” cause a drop in confidence of our air trans system and should not be released. There are so many things wrong with that train of thought I do not even know where to begin. Here are three quick points.
1) My tax dollars went to pay for this report, it should be public knowledge.
2) I should have all existing information made accessible to me so that I may make the best decision for me and my family regarding our flying habits. Withholding information regarding the safety of such a common occurrence is accessory to the deaths caused by lack of such knowledge.
3) By withholding the info from not only passengers but from airlines as well NASA effectively cuts out the very entity that is ultimately responsible for the safety of its customers. If the airlines don’t know about a problem they CAN NOT FIX IT!
houbee said,
October 22, 2007 @ 6:27 pm
Shut down NASA! They are wasting our money, neither their space nor other programs are living up to the promise…
John Baker said,
October 22, 2007 @ 8:06 pm
It is a shame that a government that purports itself to schoolchildren as a government “for and by the people”, is neither. It is a government that is for and by its own self perpetuation, with a people that is required by law, to pay for. It is answerable only to it’s own agency, an agency that is completely independent of all others. Much like a little independent governments among a host of others.
To me, it seems outrageous to me, but obviously is totally reasonable to NASA, to use public money to gather, and then order the destruction of that data, because it feels it may impact the welfare of government and private identities. Data that you would think, should be considered the property of the people.
John Baker
John Locke said,
October 22, 2007 @ 9:22 pm
One of the services nasa provides is the Aviation Safety Reporting System - http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/
Have been for years. It’s a way for pilots to anonymously report safety concerns without fear of reprisal from their employers, as the FAA system for reporting concerns is not anonymous. All the data collected at this site is free and publicly accessible. Don’t be so quick to judge NASA; it’s easy to find a story to be sensationalist about and copy it from CNN, but it requires some time, effort, and independent investigation to get the whole picture, especially when the organization you’re talking about is as large as NASA.
And remember - driving to the airport is the most dangerous part of any flight.
Robert said,
October 23, 2007 @ 7:43 am
John, thank you for that link.
Please do not read more into my post than is actually there. I think NASA is a great agency that has accomplished some pretty amazing things but that is not a get-out-of-jail-free-card for their current miss step. It seems the fact of this case are rather straight foward and ultimately NASA will have to answer to someone for their stance on this issue (hopefully). I see this story has made at least a few front pages this morning following its break on CNN yestarday.
Alisha said,
October 29, 2007 @ 9:05 pm
“Cannot” is one word. Didn’t you learn anything from Mrs. Weiler?