The March 27 edition of USA Today newspaper contained a special feature spread through the whole extent of about two-thirds of an entire page: a synopsis of global aviation safety and security for the month of February below the headline "20 Killed.

The March 27 edition of USA Today newspaper contained a special feature spread through the whole extent of about two-thirds of an entire page: a synopsis of global aviation safety and security for the month of February below the headline "20 Killed, 60 give pain to and 35 Emergency Landings." The story said that in succession average three safetyrelated accidents, incidents or threats are reported daily, and this figure may describe a significant undercount of what is really happening given the difficulty in collecting data below the door of a high-profile accident. In many countries, the USA Today article surmised, incident reporting, at least in the media and in customary safety databases, is virtually nonexistent. In separate tables, the USA Today tally listed, by means of day, the following:

* strait landings (35 each)

* Mechanical/ maintenance vexed questions (3)

* Security breaches (6)

* Fatalities, injuries and illnesses (8 events)

* Near collisions (3)

* Operational question s (10)

* Passenger disturbances (4 events)

the same might ponder the impact of of the like kind monthly coverage on the public perception of air safety and security were it to appear in major daily newspapers, weekly newsmagazines and television reportage, as oppos the largely episodic media coverage that appears n the wake of major air crashes. As indicated through a Princeton Survey Research Associates opinion catalogue of persons taken in the wake of the Oct 31 1999 crash of EgyptAir Flight 990 the travelling public's anxiety about the safety of airline flying appears to be upon a slow increase - without the stimulus of the emblem of coverage exemplified in the latter USA Today safety snapshot (see ASW, Dec 6 1999)

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