November 15, 1999

Mr. James Hall, Chairman
National Transportation
Safety Board
800 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20594

Dear Mr. Hall,

This will acknowledge receipt of your letter of October 27, 1999.

Regrettably, you did not respond to my question, "Why has the NTSB failed to recognize that the cause of most air crash fatalities is due to the fundamental flaws, inherent in conventional airliners?".  The NTSB's refusal to address this fact has been directly responsible for egregious fatalities over past decades, and your continued refusal will simply condemn many more innocent air travelers to avoidable deaths henceforth.

Your statement that "The Safety Board does not have the authority or the staffing to recommend endorse or purchase equipment..." is without foundation, especially since The Burnelli Company did not ask you for an endorsement.  However, it should be abundantly clear to all Board members that the Burnelli airframe configuration virtually eliminates the many fundamental flaws, inherent in the streamlined fuselage designs, i.e. the supporting structure in combination with excessively high take-off and landing speeds on over-stressed tires.  If common sense is a factor in your considerations, the unique crashworthiness, demonstrated by the 1935 UB-14 crash scene (shown in the video I sent you) shows that a proven alternative, without the above flaws, has existed for many decades.  Now that you have this knowledge, it must be imperative for you to re-examine the inherent dangers of the conventional airliners.  If you as Chairman of the NTSB and the NTSB as an agency are to fulfill your Congressional mandates, you have to examine the issue earnestly and make an honest recommendation of your findings, even if it is unpopular with the industry.  Do not forget that it is we taxpayers and air travelers who are footing the cost of the NTSB, not special interest groups.

Your ploy to pass the NTSB accountability to the FAA is unacceptable.  The NTSB has the responsibility to recognize fundamental flaws in aircraft design and make appropriate recommendations to the FAA.  The National Fire Protection Association recognized important flaws in the conventional airliners in 1947 and the Airline Pilot's Association in 1948 and 1961.  Why hasn't the NTSB (or the FAA) recognized these flaws in the interim?  Please have another look at the 1935 Burnelli UB-14 crash scene and remember Professor Cantilli's 1980 advice: "The use of Burnelli airliners would reduce air crash fatalities by 85%".

Your statement, "Please be assured that the Safety Board's fact-finding process is thorough and objective", is not supported by the record.  If the process were "thorough and objective" we would all be happily flying in safer, superior and less costly airliners today.

Once again, why has the NTSB failed to recognize the cause of most air crash fatalities is due to the fundamental flaws, inherent in conventional airliners?  Bearing in mind that actions speak louder than words, many people are paying close attention to your actions and those of the NTSB.  I look forward to a prompt reply to my question without further bureaucratic procrastination.