Most Air Travelers Undeterred by Crash

Americans believe air travel is safe and most would still fly with Trans World Airlines despite last week’s crash of TWA Flight 800, according to a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll released this week.

Some 71% of Americans are moderately to very confident that U.S. airplanes are mechanically sound, the poll revealed, while 68% expressed confidence that U.S. airlines are safe from terrorist attacks.

However, a majority of those polled said strengthened security measures are worth the extra time and money. A whopping 87% support increased mechanical inspections of planes, and 78% say that airline security should examine passengers and luggage more carefully.

Sabotage is widely suspected in last week’s TWA crash that killed all 230 passengers and crew. Still, the incident doesn’t appear to have fazed many air travelers. Only 17% of those polled said they’d probably avoid TWA in the future, while 20% said they were less likely to fly on any commercial airline.

While criminal activity is a concern, 80% of fliers said they are more worried about mechanical failures than terrorist attacks.

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Marla Dickerson covers tourism for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-5670 and at marla.dickerson@latimes.com