Children’s Deaths Likely to Fuel Debate on Aircraft Safety Seats

The deaths of four children and one infant in last Thursday’s crash of Avianca Airlines Flight 52 in New York is expected to fuel the debate over child safety on airliners.

The Federal Aviation Administration allows children under age 2 to sit on adults’ laps and fly free, but safety experts contend that children who do so are not safe.

Child safety advocates want the FAA to mandate the use of child safety seats on airliners, but it appears unlikely that the agency will do so. An FAA spokesman said Monday that the agency will propose a rule that will allow parents to use a safety seat on all flights by U.S. airlines if a ticket is purchased for the child.

“That is not good enough,” said Cheryl Kim, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Area Child Passenger Safety Assn., which has petitioned the FAA for a tougher rule. “The FAA should require that all young children are buckled-up.”

Rep. Jim Lightfoot (R-Iowa) said he would seek legislation to mandate child restraints if the FAA does not require them. Since most airlines already allow use of the seats, “what the FAA is suggesting is little different from what we have now,” he said.

A spokesman for Avianca Airlines, a Colombian carrier, said Monday that he did not know whether any of the seven infants aboard Flight 52 were riding in safety seats. He added that five infants who survived the crash remained hospitalized Monday, including one in critical condition.

That child, 9-month-old Daniela Andrea Montoya, suffered internal injuries when she flew from her father’s arms and became wedged between two seats as the plane crashed.

The Boeing 707 crashed in Cove Neck, N.Y., as it approached John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing 73 of the 158 persons on board.

Safety advocates contend that child restraints are needed on aircraft because the force of gravity builds in a crash, making an infant impossible to hold. The child safety issue arose after last July’s crash of a United Airlines jet in Sioux City, Iowa, in which one infant died, along with 111 other people.

Recent FAA crash tests show that safety seats can protect infants against injury. But the FAA has resisted a rule that would require use of the seats because the agency says some parents prefer to hold infants in their laps to save money. Moreover, the airline industry, which encourages voluntary use of safety seats, is concerned that a mandate would force airlines to provide the seats.

The industry also says that safety seats, designed for use in automobiles, are too bulky and clumsy for airline use. The industry has asked the FAA to help design a child restraint more suitable for airliners.