U.S. Contributes to Airline Crash Perils, Wright Says

DALLAS — House Majority Leader Jim Wright (D-Tex.) accused the Reagan Administration today of contributing to air safety problems by slashing the number of federal aircraft inspectors and refusing to spend $3 billion available for advanced radar equipment.

Wright, along with Reps. Norman Y. Mineta (D-San Jose) and Martin Frost (D-Tex.), toured the site of the Aug. 2 Delta Air Lines crash in preparation for a House aviation subcommittee hearing scheduled next month.

The fiery accident occurred during a severe thunderstorm at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, killing 135 people.

At a news conference, Wright accused the Office of Management and Budget of having “an attitude of callous disregard” for the safety of U.S. airline passengers by refusing to spend the $3 billion in an aviation safety trust fund earmarked for Doppler radar and other improvements.

Fewer FAA Inspectors

The Reagan Administration has also jeopardized U.S. airline passengers by reducing the number of FAA inspectors 25% since 1981, Wright said.

“We see a disturbing tendency to equate safety with cost,” Wright told reporters.

Although the exact cause of the Delta crash has not yet been determined by the National Transportation Safety Board, some experts have said that sophisticated new Doppler radar equipment could have warned the Delta pilot of dangerous wind-shear conditions at the airport and helped prevent the accident.

Called Already Obsolete

Nationwide installation of the advanced Doppler equipment was recommended two years ago by the safety board. But officials at the budget office, contending that the Doppler system is already obsolete, earlier this year told the Federal Aviation Administration to delay requesting installation funds.

Mineta, chairman of the aviation subcommittee, said both Doppler radar and an increase in the current 679 FAA aircraft inspectors were critical measures needed to prevent further airline disasters.

The new radar systems, with a price tag of about $5 million each, would cost a total of $1.5 billion to equip the nation’s largest airports, Mineta said.

“When we deregulated the aviation industry, we did not deregulate safety,” he said.