National Scandal

The commercial airport which handles the heavy air traffic in & out of the Capital of the U. S. has been cursed by pilots for a decade. Fifty Eastern Airliners and 16 American Airliners take off from or land at the Washington Airport every day. Yet it is small, partly undrained and bumpy, and the approaches are menaced by factories, high tension lines, a bluff, several structures on the field including a blimp hangar. A highway runs across the field; a military guard and stoplights are supposed to halt automobiles when planes are coming in or going out. For years Congressional committees have toyed with the project of acquiring a municipal port. Nothing has been done. This week a commission appointed by Congress recommended purchase of a site near Camp Springs, Md. Opposition is certain to develop because it is ten miles from Washington.

Last week the National Airline Pilots Association lost its last shred of patience, fired an ultimatum in the form of a letter to the Bureau of Air Commerce. The letter demanded that the Washington Airport be designated a "two-way" field, which would reduce it to the emergency or auxiliary class. The pilots declared that after 60 days they would not land heavy, high-speed planes unless the wind were favorable for using the long runway, and that they were "seriously considering" a refusal to use the field under any circumstances.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.