TWE DISPUTES GROUP'S COMMUTER-FLIGHTS CLAIM

Bill Mishk, director of marketing for Trans World Express, called an International Airline Passengers Association claim Monday that commuter airplanes are unsafe "an outlandish statement."

Trans World Express is the commuter airline at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

Mishk said statistics can be misleading when comparing the number of accidents with commuter airlines and major airlines. "There are more commuter flights made each year," Mishk said. "Also, the government counts commuter accidents of 30 seats or less with those involving bush pilots, crop dusters and helicopters," Mishk said.

An Associated Press story said that in 1993, commuter airlines had 0.5 accidents per 100,000 flights, almost double the rate for major airlines.

"If you break it down to commuter airlines with commercial flights, there is not a significant difference," Mishk said. "The International Airline Passengers Association is trying to be sensitive to the needs of the traveling public, but it tends to scare people with something like this."

The IAPA was focusing on the safety of commuter airlines because of the Oct. 31 American Eagle accident in Indiana that claimed the lives of 68 passengers.

The American Eagle commuter aircraft was an ATR-72. The TWE commuter planes that operate out of Cape Girardeau Regional Airport are 19-seat Jetstream J-32s.

Mishk said that TWE, which is owned by Trans-States in St. Louis, has just placed an order for 60 Jetstream J-41 airplanes that hold up to 30 passengers. Mishk said that Cape Girardeau is being considered as one of the cities it would use a Jetstream J-41.

"TWE in Cape Girardeau has an excellent safety record," Mishk said. "TWE just signed a new five-year contract with TWA Monday."

Assistant City Manager Doug Leslie said TWE has not had an accident at the Cape Girardeau airport.

The Air Transport Association, which represents airlines, said its members "continue to have confidence in the safety and operations procedures of their regional airport partners." The association said the warning "needlessly frightens the public."

Commuter airlines are a rapidly growing portion of the travel business, carrying more than 50 million passengers last year. Most operate smaller planes carrying a maximum of 30 passengers. Planes of 31 or more seats are regulated under the same rules as the larger jets.