EDITORIAL: There is too much to learn from the Reagan-Washington plane crash to use it for political gain

B efore American Eagle Flight 5342 crashed Wednesday into an Army Black Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, it had been some 16 years since a fatal commercial airliner crash on American soil. That remarkable statistic, which especially bears repeating at this unlikely moment, is an indication of just how safe U.S.

commercial aviation has become, despite its exponential growth. So safe, in fact, that an entire generation of Americans has come of age without knowing the feeling of sorrow and instability that such disasters always bring. You can tell from the media coverage.



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