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“Mayday:” When Journalism and Aviation Collide

By: JP Regan

In the United States alone, we lose around 130 people a day to highway accidents. That’s

the equivalent of a 737 airliner, or multiple commuter airliners, crashing each and every day.

However, that doesn’t happen. In fact, on any given day there are 87,000 flights in the skies

above America, around 28,000 of which are commercial flights like Southwest or United

Airlines. And everyday, air traffic controllers help to guide those flights and the millions on

board them safely home. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), around

40,000 people die in highway accidents each year compared to the 600 in aviation, only about

100 of which occur in commercial aviation. So that poses the question. Why do people fear

flying, and why do those who live and work in aviation feel that the media is at times so quick to

fuel those flames? This essay will attempt to look at professional journalists who have covered

aviation and the lessons they have learned from it in addition to the professionals on the other

end who live this career each and every day. What follows will hopefully not only give the media

better insight into how to cover accidents in aviation, but also help them have a better

understanding of what to do whenever journalism and aviation collide.

When United Flight 585 crashed just short of the runway at Colorado Springs Municipal

Airport in June of 1991, then local reporter Tom Costello was there. The accident, involving a

Boeing 737-200 jet, killed all on board and the networks were going wall-to-wall with coverage.

Costello, now a Washington-based correspondent for NBC News, attributes his resources at his

local station to helping him get the facts together when the news broke. He recalls one of the

network reporters going on the air missing key pieces of information about the crash because
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they failed to cover all the angles. A native of Colorado, Costello knew the area and used it to his

advantage. He also had the benefit of his stations helicopter from which he could get up to the

minute information as it happened so that his report could be as accurate as possible. This is just

one example, a small look at one aspect of covering aviation.

When you step on a plane, fasten your seat belt, and make sure your seat and tray table

are in their “upright and locked position,” the first thing on your mind probably isn’t the

airworthiness of the plane. If anything, it’s “How long is this flight going to last?” Or you’re

preoccupied with that meeting you’re heading to or the family you just waived goodbye to. The

pilots probably don’t cross your mind until they come on the intercom to inform you of the

weather at your destination, and the specifics and technicalities of one of the worlds modern

marvels of which you’re strapped into might not pop in your head either.

However, maybe it should.

Don Phillips is a former transportation writer for The Washington Post. His career spans

more than 30 years and he has covered major events in the field of aviation including the crash of

TWA flight 800. The thought that the average traveler doesn’t really know what is going on

“behind the scenes” when it comes to air travel resonates profoundly with Phillips. He adds that

not understanding leads to fear because flying is an inherent fear to millions. “ There’s only two

basic fears we’re born with, all others we learn: the fear of falling and loud noises,” Phillips said.

That is why, as a result, people naturally fear flying. It pretty much sets the stage for both in

many peoples minds. “There’s something very basic about fearing aviation,” Phillips said. He

extends this into the newsroom. He notes that the editors he has encountered have tended to be

very creative people but fail to care for the technical details of say, how an airplane works. “I

have run into a number of upper editors who have no idea how a plane flies. Absolutely none.
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And I have tried to explain it to them and they just look at me with a blank stare” Phillips said.

“They tend to be some of the most fearful flyers there are,” he adds. As a result, Phillips

explained that the editors he has interacted with have taken the lack of desire to learn about

aviation and filled it with fear of the unknown as a result. Therefore, whenever something does

go wrong, they jump on the story because that accident affirms in their minds that they aren’t

crazy, flying really is dangerous. Phillips also adds that the state of 24-hour news coverage

doesn’t help the situation. There just isn’t the time or the resources to go in depth and assign

reporters to various beats such as aviation anymore.

Some might say the lack of resources on the part of stations to have beat reporters is due

to stations’ budgets, others say there just isn’t the interest in aviation and other sectors to permit

it. In addition, the age of 24-hour cable news makes it harder to give any journalist ample time to

be a professional in anything. Bill Kight is a captain with a large cargo carrier in the U.S. and he

says his biggest complaint about the media’s aviation coverage is “poor reporting.” He says,

“Part of the problem is a lack of credible sources. A reporter may go to a crash scene and some

volunteer firefighter will say the airplane is a Piper Cub when in reality it is a Cessna 210. The

reporter doesn't know the difference so he/she reports exactly what they were told.” To the same

degree, that is why NBC’s Costello says he would “rather be right than first.” He adds, “ I work

very hard not to hype a story and I am very sensitive to aviation stories. People can get very

scared by aviation stories so it’s important to put it all in perspective.” And that perspective is

what can separate a seasoned reporter from a rookie. The experience that you gain in a career in

journalism will help you understand who are credible sources at a crash scene and who isn’t. It

will help you to know, like the example above, to talk with a member of the Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA) or an investigator with the NTSB versus a firefighter when it comes to
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crash scenes, at least for confirmation.

Headquartered in Washington D.C., the NTSB investigates all civil aviation accidents in

the United States. When that United flight 585 mentioned earlier crashed, the NTSB was on the

scene. John DeLisi is Deputy Director of the Office of Aviation Safety at the NTSB and he

shared some interesting observations on how the quality of media coverage differs just by the

size city you are in. You may think the bigger city’s would provide a bit more frustration and

chaos when it comes to relations between the media and crash scene investigators however, Mr.

DeLisi points out that, “we get folks in the big city who are familiar with what we do and they

ask pointed questions and it is almost a more effective means of communication.” He adds that

sometimes when there are accidents in more rural areas covered by local media, there seems to

be a “phenom” that covering a big accident can be a journalists “big break” and there tends to be

“more interest in cultivating their media presence than getting the facts we are willing to

provide.” DeLisi also spoke on the safety of aviation. Like I mentioned in the beginning of this

essay, aviation is, by the numbers, the safest form of transportation. You are technically more

likely to get in an accident on the way to the airport than on any flight. DeLisi shares a memory

he has of a Pittsburgh reporter at the crash scene of US Air flight 427 in 1994 who said in their

live tag at the end of their package, “ Oh and by the way, since this happened more people have

died on our nations highways than in this accident.” Putting things in perspective is something

DeLisi urges all journalists to strive for. On quite the other end of the spectrum, he also recalls a

trip to Cleveland, OH. where he was listening to a local news radio station and an AP report

came on from Washington saying that the NTSB had declared that the brakes on 747 jetliners

were faulty and were being recalled. They then proceeded to go through an entire story on how

terrible it would be to not be able to use brakes on an aircraft like that. However, it turned out
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that what they were referring to were the “speed” brakes on the aircraft, which are not brakes in

the traditional sense but panels on the wings that can deploy to aid in slowing the plane down in

flight. This was obviously a big misunderstanding and one DeLisi feels he sees too much. “If

someone were to tell us we got a report wrong covering an accident and had said the right engine

went out when in reality it was the left engine, we would absolutely correct it. We believe very

strongly in information and the integrity of that information. I don’t think the media follows that

guideline at all,” he says. He believes the media is “very interested in sensationalism and

conversation and attention-grabbing headlines.” Whether the information is 100% accurate or

not, DeLisi believes takes a back seat.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilot’s Association (AOPA), is a non-profit organization that

supports general aviation across the country. It boasts around 440,000 members and spans the

last 70 years advocating for general aviation. The AOPA deals with the media constantly, and

shared that their primary concern is a lack of understanding on the part of the media. “The

greatest challenge and, frankly, frustration we have when dealing with the general news media is

an overall lack of understanding of what general aviation is and does,” the AOPA said. They

make clear that they don’t believe reporters are “out to get general aviation” however, they do

believe the common root of the problem is speculation.

“Aviation accidents are rarely the result of a single catastrophic event, and determining

what sequence of events led to the accident is inevitably a time-consuming process.

Certainly, report what you learn from witnesses and investigators, but understand that

eyewitness accounts are influenced by everything from where they were standing to their

own knowledge of aviation to their emotional state. Also understand that investigators

may describe factual information, but they are not yet drawing conclusions, and the rest
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of us should not, either.”

In that respect, DeLisi with the NTSB recalls a woman after the crash of TWA flight 800

coming out to the press saying she swears she heard a loud explosion and saw a missile hit the

plane. The aircraft was traveling at 15,000 feet about five miles offshore. Even at a slant range of

seven miles from where she was to the aircraft and even at the speed of sound, the sound of an

explosion would take around 30-40 seconds to reach her ears. There is no way that she could

have seen the missile hit the aircraft after she heard the explosion. This just goes to stress the

importance of taking the circumstances and situations of your sources into consideration. Do not

trump an official statement or confirmation of facts for an eyewitness just for a deadline. It will

most likely be wrong and will almost never lead to anything but added panic on the part of

viewers and readers at home.

According to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, there are more than 14,000

air traffic controllers working for the FAA handling those 87,000 flights I mentioned at the

beginning of this essay. Doug Church is the Director of Communications for NATCA and says it

is astounding how few people cover aviation anymore in this country. “The absolute devastation

of newsrooms in print and TV and radio, has had a great affect of coverage of aviation. I can

count on one hand the number of people who cover aviation in this country,” he says. He

believes the lack of reporters covering aviation is a detriment to all because aviation is such a big

part of life for many today. Having only a few reporters covering this field he says is “a serious

threat to the credibility of coverage and quality of coverage and a disservice to the traveling

public unless they go to a few select sources. On a local level it’s now nonexistent.” The other

common thread to which Church also contributed is the belief many in the aviation community

share that the media is only concerned about aviation when a plane goes down. “There’s a lot
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more to aviation than crashes,” Church says, “ There are far more other things that go on that are

newsworthy.”

When it comes to aviation accidents, there is the idea out there that the media might

sensationalize stories. After all, aviation accidents are generally huge events with the potential

for much loss of life and merit large media coverage. However Steve Bradley, a retired captain

with Air Canada, recalls one instance where he feels sensational reporting rang through:

“A good example I remember was a small twin engine aircraft landed

with one gear retracted, but the pilot followed all procedures, landed

safely except for damaging some sheet metal and no one was even

injured. The landing video was re-played for hours on CNN with

reporters continually talking about how bad this could have been. How

did they know it could have been bad? Every aircraft has procedures

to handle things that aren’t quite right, so what on earth are the

reporters talking about? I’ll bet that in the same time frame, plenty of

obese people died from poor nutrition, but that did not hit the news.

Why? Because it is not sensational.”

This is certainly one pilot’s opinion but one that I think many journalists

can learn from and should at least consider. After all, journalists work for the

people, they vow to have the publics trust, so the least they can do is listen

to readers, viewers and listeners. At the end of the day, it is those they write

for that are the real stories and should always be the most important asset.

Another important question Bradley raised was, “Is it more important

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to be first or accurate?” I think this is a question that probably plagues many

newsrooms across the country on a daily basis. Of course journalists would

always say it is most important to get the story right, and the facts straight.

However, when that deadline draws closer and closer, and producers and

editors are pushing for results, getting something on the air or off to print

first becomes pretty important. Bradley also discusses what he feels is a

common misnomer of “aging aircraft” and uses the recent air disaster in

Poland as an example.

“Yes, the aircraft was 20 odd years old, but unlike a car, they are

constantly upgraded, re-built and modified. The one in question had

been totally overhauled in December, so let’s get the story straight, as

the age of the aircraft would have nothing to do with the crash. “Aging

aircraft” just puts ideas into the minds of the public. Maybe they

should check on the age of “Airforce One”. It’s a few years old itself,

and is treated with kid gloves and plenty of TLC, but then so are most

aircraft.”

It is important to understand the care and the “TLC” that aircraft are

given just for a normal flight. The fact that airlines can get so many planes in

and out of gates at airports across this country is nothing short of amazing.

Consider this hypothetical situation: before you hop in the car to go to work

in the morning, you must first check the weather both at your house and at

work where you will end up. After that, you file a “drive plan.” Then, you
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actually head to the garage or your driveway and get the car ready. You

perform a thorough walk-around of the car, checking tire pressure, looking

underneath the car and at all surfaces to check for anything out of the

ordinary. You also check under the hood, checking oil levels and siphoning

fuel to check for water or other containments. Then you proceed to hop

inside and perform a check of the lights, the mobility of the steering wheel,

blinkers, fuel and oil gauges, brakes, gear shifters, etc. Then you can finally

start the car and are ready for a “before drive” checklist. This is a lengthy,

fictitious example of course but the point being that many people don’t

understand just how much pilots do before a single flight. Hopefully applying

it to the average persons daily routine might put some things in perspective.

If you did all that before you drove your car, you’d feel pretty safe about

driving wouldn’t you? Imagine having two or three sets of every gauge in

your car just as a back up. Sounds crazy right? Well it’s a reality in every

cockpit on every plane in this country. Perhaps this can help journalists and

others alike have a better appreciation for the care that pilots and others put

into flying to ensure it’s as safe as possible.

As we know, however, when things do go wrong in aviation, they can

be deadly. When accidents happen, we hear about it. But what we might not

hear about is how that accident affects the lives of those involved,

particularly pilots. At the very least, we may hear from pilots after the

accident and forget about it. In July of 1982, a helicopter pilot was flying a

Huey helicopter, the ones you see in many Army movies that pick up and
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drop off soldiers in battle, for an upcoming move titled Twilight Zone the

Movie. However, thanks to poorly timed explosives he and his chopper were

blown out of the sky taking the life of actor Vic Morrow and two child actors.

It led to much litigation in the Los Angeles courts. Dorcey Wingo was that

pilot. He recalls his recollection of media coverage:

“Twilight Zone Pilot Loses License!” the Los Angeles Times headline read, one day after

the FAA moved to revoke my license. Note that the process of revoking a license in this

country begins with a document prepared by the FAA. The Order of Revocation is mailed

to the accused, informing him of the charges against them and the choices the accused

has at that point in time, including appealing the findings of the FAA, or simply giving up

and mailing them back your license. I opted for the former over the latter. As for the Los

Angeles Times, they accomplished what they sought to do, and that was to sell

newspapers. Once my defense team pointed out to their editors that I still had my license

in my pocket and would defend it vigorously, the paper printed a tiny retraction in the

next day’s edition and went right back to business, no skin off their noses. Mean-while, I

had friends and family, close customers and folks from all over the country calling at

weird hours of the day and night to console me for “losing” something I hadn’t lost.

I mention this particular example because it was such a prominent and serious event relating to

aviation in this country that involved loss of life. As a result, it naturally garnered lots of media

attention and thus the outlets through which we view these events in history. But this testament

from Wingo also gives us good insight into how he and others involved in media coverage can

perceive the same events from the other side. I think it does much to see these viewpoints from
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the side of those in the spotlight of media coverage to give journalists more perspective.

Aside from Bill Kight whom I mentioned earlier, I also spoke with a few current pilots

for major airlines here in the United States and they shared with me their views of the media.

Two of them are Jim Morris and John Steiner. Morris spoke on the topic of reporters not having

enough experience with aviation because of the lack of beats and specialty areas within the

media today. He used the words “superficial” and “thematic” to describe general news coverage.

He also says that reporters just don’t have the experience and therefore the “historical

background” to understand accidents. Morris adds, “It seems common practice for reporters to

try to solve aircraft accident mysteries while fires still burn, or to repeat anecdotally interesting

but statistically insignificant facts, such as whether or not a pilot filed a flight plan before a

crash.” Morris also spent some time as the spokesman for his chapter of the Air Line Pilots

Association. He sums up very well what he believes is at the root of the problem of facts getting

distorted on their way from the source, to viewers, listeners and readers.

“In my experience, most reporters want to do the right thing and learn about the

nuances of our profession and the industry. The problem is that they have little

time to research a story, and less time to tell one. What happens is that a complex

answer becomes a 10 second soundbite, and the story gets oversimplified.”

John Steiner has been flying for more than 24 years, nine of which have been with the

United States Navy. Now at a major legacy carrier in the U.S. Steiner feels the media is “unkind”

to journalists. He says, “The stories usually sensationalize accidents and incidents or tell the

flying public how poorly the airlines treat their passengers.” He also emphasized how little

people in this country probably do know about aviation and what it takes to make a flight
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happen. He did cite a Ted Koppel piece on Nightline and the coverage of US Airways pilot Sully

Sullenberger and his “miracle” ditch into the Hudson River in New York City. “Sulley” saved

the lives of everyone on board after his aircraft lost both engines due to striking birds. Steiner

believes change needs to happen as to how reporters cover aviation and that can begin with each

individual reporter the next time they work on a story.

“Changes I would like to see would most likely incur a lot of work and digging up some

answers as to why things are the way they are at the airlines. "Airline Pilots See 40% Pay

Raise", was because they had taken a 50% pay cut a few years earlier when the company

was in bankruptcy. "Southwest Airlines Number 1 On Time Airline", we haven't seen

since they have had to use an electronic measuring device like all the rest of us have been

using forever. "Philadelphia Worst Airport for Cancellations", is usually due to weather

and Air Traffic Control issues. I think you get the picture.”

What is clear is that both Morris and Steiner would like to see change

and a better general understating of aviation and more specifically a pilots

job and responsibilities. Steiner adds, “ Once they (reporters) saw the other

side of the story, that headline might not seems so catchy.” There is a lot to

learn out there and I think one of the most important things is for journalists

to never stop learning. The moment journalist’s stop being students of the

world is the day in which they stop adequately covering it.

At the other end of the spectrum, those in the media have their own advice as to how

better to cover aviation. Tom Costello and Don Phillips shared the importance of getting facts

right and understanding what you’re covering, through experience and time invested in educating
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yourself on the subject. Dave Busse has been a television news photographer for the better part

of the last 30 years, a majority of which has been with a major affiliate in Los Angeles. He adds

some perspective from the other side of the camera and notes the trouble with aviation coverage

today is two-fold. He says, “I believe the core problem is (a) there is no reward for those who

enter mainstream journalism with an interest in transportation to be a beat writer and (b) there are

less and less people drawn to journalism with a natural curiosity about things.” He uses the

example of riding the city bus. Many journalists have covered stories on the city bus fares but

how many have ridden them for their own “edification?” The same rings true when it comes to

covering transportation. He adds that many reporters are “clueless about things outside their

social bubble,” and their reporting reflects that. Busse also points out an interesting observation

that when the media does get something right, few people seem to notice. I think everyone can

take something from that.

When it comes to learning how to fly, one of the most well known instructors in the

industry is Rod Machado. Rod has been flying since he was a teenager and travels all across the

country giving speeches about the joys of aviation. He is also the instructor in the Microsoft

Flight Simulator computer flight simulation programs. He says that while aviation reporting can

tend to be on the sensational side, he understands that when accidents do happen, journalists

have to do their job. Big headlines equal big audience. He said, “After all, a reporter wants others

to read his or her words, so there’s a natural (and not entirely unexpected) motivation for

journalists to write copy that will attract readers.” However, he points out, it’s an entirely

different thing if they start getting facts wrong. “ Opinion is often misrepresented as fact,” he

adds. Machado recalls a mid-air collision back in 1978 between a Cessna single engine aircraft

and a Boeing 727 jet airliner. The LA Times reported that the small aircraft had hit the larger
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airliners wing and that caused it to crash. What had occurred, as is usually the case, was a

multitude of small problems including the airliners’ pilots not having visual separation of the

aircraft and the small Cessna’s deviation off of the heading assigned to them. The airliner

technically hit the Cessna from behind causing the crash.

Machado does applaud the use of aviation experts, whether former pilots or instructors,

by cable news channels when analyzing a crash. As far as his consumption of news goes, he

reads multiple papers but enjoys one section in particular saying, “The only section of a

newspaper I can rely on is the opinion section. That’s because I know I’m getting an opinion and

I treat it as such.” This may be a fairly sobering thought for some serious journalists out there but

something to consider. In fact, some might like opinion pieces because they tell you what you’re

getting instead of being led to think you have a hard news story that might turn out to be filled

with inaccuracies.

For dealing with TV media in particular, Machado gives some good advice when being

interviewed that most in TV news would be thrilled to hear. He says, “I try to give short, specific

sound bites to questions to prevent being unfairly edited or misconstrued. That, to some degree,

seems to work well.” Machado believes the reporting “ethic” doesn’t seem to be as important as

it once was and that includes getting facts right. He recommends journalists should really take

advantage of the AOPA’s newsroom because, he says, “the AOPA staff is absolutely an

incredible resource in aviation matters. They’re just amazing and will gladly help out any

newsperson who asks for assistance.”

I’ve talked about aircraft organizations, pilots, and news professionals, but what about

aircraft companies. Airbus Industries is the leading European aircraft manufacture and Boeing
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Aircraft’s number one competitor. They brought us the Airbus A380, currently the largest

passenger airliner in the world. It features two complete decks holding more than 500 people.

The Communications Manager for Airbus America’s is Mary Ann Greczyn, and she’s handled

aviation and the media for 13 years. She says that aviation coverage has changed in two key

ways: less expert journalists at large papers and networks covering aviation, and fewer

specifically aviation journalists specializing in the technical and safety side of the business.

Instead, after 9/11 she points out, editors seem to have had their reporters switch to safety issues

primarily and the other aspects have been forgotten. She feels too many inexperienced reporters

are being spread too thin saying, “To expect someone to be an expert in planes, trains and

automobiles – and the infrastructure and business surrounding those three very different fields is

a tall order for most journalists.”

She cites an experience a senior executive had when dealing with the media saying that

this executive, who is no longer employed at Airbus, became too comfortable with a journalist

and didn’t think to specify what was on and off the record. He “spoke too freely” and leaked

some information about a competitor and it wound up on the front page the next day. Going

through the PR department is something companies and organizations across the board really

stress as key to a good relationship and a normal flow of information. They do want to get

journalists information; journalists and spokespeople just need to be able to meet in the middle,

not having one party cutting any corners. In closing she adds that the most important advice she

could relay would be to “always, always, always contact a company that you are referring to in

an article. Far too often we see our company referenced in an article that we were never

contacted on, and we could have added some good information that would have enhanced the

article.” Greczyn adds some tips for what journalists could cover more by citing some European
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coverage she has heard about. She says, “There are some fantastic developments in eco-

efficiency that are not being covered among the US Aviation press. In Europe, they are more on

top of this subject, but the American aviation media don’t see this as a priority.”

Gene Soman is a retired corporate pilot with more than 14,000 hours of flight time, who

flew some of the finest helicopters and corporate jets in the world with some of the most famous

celebrities on board them. He told me that if he wanted to be a reporter and cover aviation he

would be a pilot. Point taken. If you’re going to report on something, don’t merely cover it-

immerse yourself in it. If you cover politics would you not indulge in all things government?

Soman adds, “I think the media is responsible, I don’t think there’s an intent to put the fear of

flying in people, I don’t think it’s the duty of the media to make the population feel more

comfortable, they’re just bringing the facts.”

We have heard from a variety of sources in this essay, both professionals behind the

controls of the airliners that grace the sky above, and the many more on the ground that keep

aviation soaring. Journalists shared tips for covering aviation and a few pilots shared their own

frustration. There is a lot of information here, a lot of opinions, and a lot to be left to your own.

However, what I think anyone can take from these accounts is that no one on either side,

journalism nor aviation, is perfect. Those that journalist’s cover may never feel completely

satisfied by that coverage. The journalists who cover those in aviation may never quite see eye-

to-eye with them, but an important fact remains - journalists are human. As long as news stories

continue to be written by humans, the chances of someone, somewhere, catching a mistake is

fairly high. To the same degree, pilots are human and aviation spokespeople are human. Yet

planes continue to soar each and everyday, press releases continue to be written and stories
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continue to be published. The key is, will all involved be team players? I hope that everyone

involved never fails to open their eyes to see the reality that is around them, the reality that can

be written, the reality that can be learned and shared with others. As I write this I sit in a 737

airliner descending from 33,000 feet into Cleveland. I’m almost home. How so? The answer lies

in the reality of what’s around me, the millions around the world that helped to make just my one

flight on this one plane possible, and because, of course, I opened my eyes. The public should

have that same opportunity.

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Sources

Tom Costello- NBC News Correspondent

Don Phillips- Former transportation writer- Washington Post

Bill Kight-UPS Pilot

John DeLisi- Deputry Director, Office of Aviation Safety, NTSB

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA)

Doug Church- Director of Communications, NATCA

Steve Bradley- Ret. Captain, Air Canada

Dorcey Wingo-Ret. helicopter pilot

Jim Morris-Airtran Airways pilot

John Steiner-Pilot, major legacy carrier in the U.S.

Dave Busse- KABC-TV news photographer

Rod Machado-flight instructor, aviation speaker and author

Mary Ann Greczyn – Communications Manager, Airbus Americas

Gene Soman- Retired corporate pilot and helicopter pilot