The Nation - News from July 1, 1987

Donald D. Engen, who steps down this week as head of the Federal Aviation Administration, said there has been an “unnecessary erosion of confidence” in air travel and he put some of the blame on the news media. “The question of (airline) safety is a news story that I must tell you has not been fully reported,” Engen said at a luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington. Engen criticized the emphasis that has been placed, for example, in reporting the rising number of near-collision reports and operational errors by air traffic controllers.