NOVA - NATIONAL
ORGANIZATION FOR VICTIM ASSISTANCE and NADA/F offer Crisis Response
Team (CRT) Training - October 18-22, 1999
Training to be held at the Holiday Inn - Baltimore, Maryland
For 25 years NOVA has
offered services and training for victims of crime and other crises.
Those who complete the training are able to become part of NOVA's
national CRT program and work with disaster service professionals,
public safety professionals, community leaders and other caregivers to
help a community or individuals in severe distress, or after a crisis.
We are proud to work with
NOVA to offer this training opportunity to NADA/F members for only $50
to cover the cost of the materials. NOVA CRT training has been sold
out during 1999 since the Littleton CO crisis, and the training cost
is usually much more. NOVA recognizes that our members have a unique
bond and last year they generously agreed to work with us and
volunteer their services.
Training will be held from
8:30 AM to 5:30 PM Monday through Friday. NOVA's professional training
materials are based on years of experience, and the U.S. Department of
Justice, Victims of Crime, also supports the NOVA classes.
* To guarantee a place in
the class please send registration checks for $50, tax deductible,
payable to the NATIONAL AIR DISASTER FOUNDATION, to our Washington DC
address. Please respond as soon as possible to confirm your
reservation. Space is limited.
* Training will be held
at the Holiday Inn, Baltimore (South), Maryland. A limited number of
rooms are being held for NADA/F at only $72 per night. Please call the
hotel directly for reservations: 410-636-4300. The hotel is located
off I-695, exit 3A, Ritchie Highway North (Route 2). Participants
cover their own costs for meals and lodging.
* NADA/F membership is
only $20 per person, per year, if you are not already a member.
NADA/F members agreed at the
annual meeting that to best help others, volunteers need to be
successfully trained. The NOVA training gives us opportunities to work
with other air crash families and survivors, as well as possible
service in our own community after a disaster.
Special thanks to NOVA for
their generosity! Special thanks to NADA/F board member Jim Hurd for
working with NOVA to coordinate the training! Everyone is welcome!
If you have additional
questions please contact Jim Hurd, 410-551-0459, or call NADA/F
directly.
DISCUSSION
GROUP...www.planesafe.org
We have a new Discussion
Group on-line on our website. Access the website and scroll down
through the Calendar to Menu. Click "Self-Registration
for NADA/F Discussion Group (Mandatory!)"
Complete the registration
with your last name (which is usually your user name), password of
your choice, and your Email address. Return to the Menu and click on
"NADA/F Discussion Group." Click on POST to enter a message
and click on messages to read them individually.
If you are having problems
try http://www.planesafe.org
and remember we are .org, not .com. Also note to use the correct
combination of letters and numbers for your password. See you on the
Internet!
SAFER CHILDREN...
Wanted: Good Common Sense...
Infant seats on airplanes
are long overdue and the FAA is strongly urged to mandate this safety
measure without further delay. Every person over two years of age,
traveling on aircraft, is required to be seat belted for take-off and
landing, and whenever the captain deems it unsafe to be unbuckled--yet
the most vulnerable, children under two years of age, are allowed to
sit on a passenger's lap. This not only places the child/infant at
risk of becoming a human missile, but also any passenger whom the
child impacts. This unsafe practice has endured far too long, and in
the last ten years caused deaths in Sioux City and Charlotte NC. Will
it take another death to finally produce responsibility and safety for
these helpless children?
It is unconscionable that
infant safety should be so callously ignored and left to chance and
luck. There is no documentation for the injuries 'lap' children have
incurred through turbulence or an infrequent crash, but they are on
the front line of risk in any 'g-force' type situation. Children under
the age of 2 are required to be in a child seat on all U.S. military
aircraft, and commercial airlines have taken a step in the right
direction by offering parents a half price ticket for their infant.
Stop this 'russian roulette' mentality and require that our
treasured children be placed in a child restraint seat with a seat
belt, just as they are required in a car traveling at a fraction of
air speed.
- Jan Lohr, Surviving
Flight Attendant, United 232, Sioux City, IA, July 19, 1989.
"GOALS 99"
At the 1998 Annual Meeting
the membership unanimously endorsed the following:
"The FAA should direct the airlines to require that all
passengers under the age of two be secured in a child restraint seat.
All passengers should have safe transportation, especially our
children. The FAA hue and cry that parents will take to the highways
does not stand the test-planes are full of children over the age of
two. All children should have a seatbelt on board a flight, as
required for the rest of the passengers."
UPDATE...
The good news is that the
FAA has approved the first step, the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule
Making, addressing child safety aboard aircraft. NADA/F members have
been thanked for their public comments and our work toward making
these recommendations law. The next step will be the Notice of
Proposed Rule Making and it should be released sometime this Fall. The
sad news is that comments and procedures could take another year or
two.
WHAT CAN WE DO? WE
NEED YOUR HELP
* When you fly, ask the
airlines if they offer in-flight child restraint seats, or if you
should supply your own car seat. Make certain that children of all
ages are safely secured.
* Tell the airlines that safe seats should be their requirement for
ALL passengers!
* Clip, sign, and mail the form at the bottom to tell the FAA that you
want action!
* Contact NADA/F if you would like to become more involved and work
with others to Chair this Action! (888-444-NADA-phone).
Please mail the following
to:
Federal Aviation Administration, Ms. Jane Garvey, Administrator, AOA-1
800 Independence Ave. S.W., Washington DC 20591
Dear Ms. Garvey:
Please do everything possible to expedite the Rule-Making to mandate
that passengers under the age of two are also required to be secured
in-flight by requiring the use of appropriate Child Restraint Devices.
All passengers should have safe transportation, especially our
children. We need your help to require the airlines to do the right
thing as soon as possible.
Sincerely yours,
Name Address
Additional Comments
NADA/F MEMBERSHIP...
Everyone is welcome to be on
the NADA/F mailing list. If you would like to become a member for $20
per person, per year, you will be entitled to vote for election of
officers at the annual meeting, vote on corporate business, as well as
help cover our newsletter costs. We have become the largest grass
roots air safety organization in the U.S., and we depend on financial
donations to cover our operating expenses--so additional financial
donations are always appreciated!
Two years ago we represented
350 people from about 12 air crashes. Today we represent over 2,000
people from over 50 crashes. We now network with people and
organizations worldwide that are pursuing air safety. At the last
annual meeting we hosted NADA/F's first press conference with U.S.
local and national media in attendance, plus we work with journalists
worldwide.
For additional information about our GOALS '99 and accomplishments
please check our website, or give us a call and we will mail the
information to you.
- Susan Smith, Treasurer
LETTERS TO THE
EDITOR...are one of the most effective ways to publicly demand
improved air safety. The newsletter insert lists some of the largest
newspapers in the U.S. by size. We encourage you to save the list and
use it to write Letters to the Editor.
Try and keep your letters
short and also send them to your hometown papers. Be sure and sign the
letters and include your name, address and telephone number so that
the papers can verify that the letter was from you. Usually papers
publish just the name, or the name plus your city and state if you
prefer. Newspapers will not publish anonymous letters, however, you
may ask them to use your name, initials, or name and hometown. If your
letters are published please forward a copy for NADA/F files. A list
of additional newspapers will also be published by NADA/F soon.
Last year board members Tom
O'Mara and Carole Rietz wrote excellent Letters to the Editor after
the first "Wiring" exposé in "USA Today." We
received calls from the media looking specifically for Tom and Carole
because others found their letters very powerful.
The other benefit of Letters to the Editor is the friends you may
meet. This is a way to connect with others from a crash long ago, or
make new friends. I met Bob Allardyce, one of our Annual Meeting
speakers because of the excellent letter that he wrote for
publication.
I would like to add a
special thank you to the wonderful volunteers who helped with this
project. If you have additions or corrections to the list please mail
them to NADA/F. If you would like to be the caretaker of this
important public service please call!
- Gail Dunham
History of the
"AIRPLANE PILOT HIRING SAFETY ACT"...
On the first anniversary of
AA3379, the family members representing 15 fatalities and 5 survivors,
found themselves in Washington DC giving testimony to support the
passage of H.R. 3536, the "Airplane Pilot Hiring Safety
Act." Their first memorial service was a quiet meeting at the
hotel while they prepared themselves mentally for a second day of
testimony.
The Act now requires an
airline, before hiring a pilot, to perform a background check on the
pilot by requesting certain records--pilot's license, medical
certificate, ratings, any enforcement from the FAA, proficiency
records, airplane qualifications, training, physical exams,
professional dis-qualifications, drug and alcohol tests from the
pilot's previous airline employer, and motor vehicle driving records.
For years, the NTSB made recommendations to the FAA that the air
carriers be required to conduct background checks and allow airlines
to share pilot performance records. The families from AA3379 helped
pass this important legislation and made a difference!
On December 11, 1999, the
5th Anniversary of AAEagle 3379, the families will gather in Raleigh
NC. The accident date was Dec. 13th, however, the families will gather
on Sat. For more information contact: Jeff Josefson, 401-885-2039
NOTES FROM THE
PRESIDENT...
One of many stories of NADA/F's SUCCESS IN BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER...
On
Aug. 12, 1999, NADA/F was able to bring together some very special
people. I received email awhile ago from Cassie Yukawa, a 17-year-old
student, and her sister Diana, age 14, who was born a month after
their father was killed on Japan Airlines 123, August 12, 1985,
the largest single air crash in history. After the crash the young
girls moved back to England with their mother Susanne.
Through our growing global
network of NADA/F friends we were able to connect them with Dr.
Kawakita, and wonderful things have happened. (Dr. Kawakita was a
Presenter at one of the first family meetings organized by board
member Tom O'Mara in the early 1990's).
Diana, an accomplished
violinist, was invited to perform for the 14th memorial service, and
the women were able to go to Japan. It was a rainy overcast day,
however, the sun came out when Diana played "Mountain Song"
on Mount Osutaka for the anniversary of JL123. The young women were
able to truly honor their father at the crash site for the first time.
A foundation helped with some of the travel expenses and others helped
with accommodations. Dr. Kawakita, in his remarkable way, introduced
the family to friends who were able to share information so they could
connect with their past.
NADA/F was honored at a
JL123 press conference for helping to bring people together, although
the Internet of today deserves most of the credit! I had the pleasure
of meeting the family recently in England and shared their
anticipation before the trip. They have not had a link with anyone
from the crash for all these years and the warm welcome from Gail
Dunham from JL123 made it a 14th anniversary that will always be
remembered.
