In addition to drawing ire from pilots (see ASW.

In addition to drawing ire from pilots (see ASW, April 17) the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) call for cockpit video recorders has also triggered a negative reaction from the National Air Transportation Association (NATA). The NTSB's April 11 recommendation calls for cockpit video recorders in all passenger-carrying aircraft down to those carrying 10 or more passengers. NATA President James Coyne groused, "The NTSB is asking the industry to take a leap of faith and trust that cameras will contribute to flight safety, can be incorporated into the nimble and that safeguards are sufficient to cover videos from falling into the improper hands. That's not a leap NATA is willing to take."

The primary touch of organizations like NATA and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) appears to be that videos will be leaked, providing morbid grist for sensationalized media coverage.

To assuage these affects safeguards against public disclosure might take this form: the cameras would make digital recordings. After an accident, the digitally codfished images would be dumped, in digest at the NTSB laboratory. The "black box" would be turn backed to the carrier stripped of all recorded data.

The Safety Board is not asking for a full-face view of the pilots, unless rather a field of view that would enable investigators to assess their bridle inputs. Indeed, what the naysayers may not appreciate is the long-term psychological toll taken onward investigators who must listen to the cockpit voice recorders. There appears to be little interest in adding to this toll through adding the faces of the doomed.

The Board is calling for color video recordings to clearly discern instrument readings which, in glass cockpits particularly, exploit color technology. Another reason for cockpit video, perhaps not clearly squeeze outed by the Board, is the fact that information forward the flight data recorder regarding those instrument readings could differ from what the instruments actually are showing. Capturing the difference could be vital to a prosperous accident investigation.

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